The Legend of the Three: Dawn of the Dragon
by NooShoak
Summary: Part Three of the Legend of the Three Trilogy. Spyro, Cynder and Jolt are reuntied with Gneiss and Tempset. With their combined might, can they stop the evil that is the Dark Master from consuming the word? rated T for safety. Now Complete!
1. Chapter 1: the time Between

A/N: it's finally here! the first chapter of the third enstallment of the Legend of the Three trilogy! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Guess what? I don't own the Legend of Spyro series, only my OC's

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><p><strong>The Legend of the Three: Dawn of the Dragon<strong>

A Legend of Spyro Fan Fic

Chapter 1: The Time Between

Gneiss' POV

Three years.

That's how long it has been since the Night of Eternal Darkness.

That's how long it's been since we last saw Spyro, Cynder, and Jolt.

That's how long it's been since the Dark Master returned to haunt the world in the form of the purple dragon Malefor.

It hasn't been easy… being one of a very small number of beings in the world to know the truth about Malefor… that he is nothing more that another slave of the Dark Master, albeit a rather powerful one.

We've been rather busy since we left the Dragon Temple alongside the Silver River, and it would take a rather long time to recount every detail, so I'll just recap a few the major events.

Shortly after arriving in Warfang for the first time, we made our way to the city's version of the Dragon Temple. It was fairly similar to the one back in the swamps, but in better condition.

Terrador, Cyril, and Volteer were already present when we arrived with Ignitus. It seems that Warfang is the last of the great dragon cities. The other cities, such as Firegate, Cryowing, and Aurora Peak fell before our generation even hatched.

We moved the most of the outlying populations to safer, more defensible locations. This included the remaining population of the Kaskia Isles.

Princess Tempest ended up having to lead her people away from their long-time home beneath the waves, as the Dark Master had deployed his naval forces: Aqua-Grublins. Unfortunately, her mother, Queen Tsunami, didn't make it. She stayed behind to cover the escape.

Technically, this means that Tempest is now the Queen of the Sea Dragons, but with everything that's been going on, we haven't really had time the deal with succession issues.

Tempest and I have continued training with the Guardians, improving our skill level with our elements. We even came up with some tricks that nobody had thought up before. For example, by barrel rolling while performing a Comet (or Meteor) Dash, I found I could generate a drilling attack.

Tempest and I had both grown a bit over the last three years. I now stood about half a head taller than most other dragons my age, and I'd become stronger, both as a result of growing and through all the conflict we'd seen. My primary pair of horns had lengthened, and a secondary set had begun emerging. Additionally, the coloration of my wing membrane had become more orange and less gray.

Tempest had gained some height at well, but her growth has been primarily lengthwise. Also, the edges of the fins along her back had become much sharper.

We've seen a significant decline in the Ape population since the Dark Master's rise. No one seems to know what happened to them.

During the evacuation of Kaskia, I was instructed to recover an item from one of the oldest vaults on the island… a chamber that apparently only the bearer of the Crystal of Molten Earth, in other words me, could access.

Within, I found a complete set of Dragon Armor. It was made of black metal, and covered with symbols that were a combination of the runes for fire and earth, embossed into the armor's surface in gold. At various points on the armor there were cut gemstones, primarily in fiery orange colors and angular shapes.

According to the inscriptions on the walls of the chamber, the armor was forged in ages past by master artisans to be durable, yet lightweight, and enchanted by the crafters of ancient magic to boost its wearers abilities, and to always fit its wearer. When I put it on, I discovered that it fit perfectly… as if it was made for me.

Next time I saw Tempest; she had her own set of armor, as well. Hers was primarily silver in color, with the sigil of the Sea Dragons on the helm portion. The gems set in her armor were deep, navy blue, and elliptically cut.

We've seen quite a few battles since we've arrived in Warfang, and though we have it within our power to resist, but not to storm into the Dark Master's lair and defeat him outright.

The Dark Master, and therefore Malefor as well, has its lair surprisingly close to the City: The Dark Master resides in the shattered fragments of the Swamp Dragon Temple, which through application of much power, are kept suspended above Worldheart Peak.

Worldheart Peak… I've tried to learn all I can about that place. What I've found out is this: it's said that the throat of this volcanic peak extends all the way to the Heart of the World itself… though no one has been adventurous enough to ever actually attempt to plum its depths.

We'd kept in contact with Hunter, and watched as he followed up on various leads on our friends' location. So far none of these leads have panned out.

In short, it's been a long and difficult road to walk, but we persevere. Tempest and I know through the spiritual connection provided to us by the Elemental Fragments we bear that Jolt is still safe, and since we know that Spyro and Cynder were with him…

I just hope they wake up soon… were doing all we can here, but we're steadily losing ground. And I miss them… Jolt with his quiet strength, Spyro with his inspirational demeanor, Cynder with her deep, heartfelt, kind nature.

Heck, I even miss that snarky little dragonfly, Sparx. He may have been annoying at times, but he always there to distract us from thinking about how much the world has chosen to pile on our backs.

_Spyro… Cynder… Jolt… where are you? We can't do this without you… _

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><p>AN: Yeah, kind of a depressing start isn't it? oh, well what can you do?

See you next time!


	2. Chapter 2: Reawakening

A/N: And here's Chapter 2! enjoy

Disclaimer: I don't own the Legend of Spyro series, only my OC's

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><p>Chapter 2: Reawakening<p>

_'Even in the Darkest of times, there is always hope. But sometimes fear clouds our vision. Sometimes our strength gives out. And yet sometimes, when all seems lost, a light shines through the darkness, and we are reminded that even the smallest amount of courage can turn the tides of war…'_ Excerpt from The Wisdom of Ignitus, Vol. 1.

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><p>Hunter's POV<p>

I've been searching all over to try and find Spyro, Cynder, and Jolt. Most recently, I'd been sneaking around the Well of Souls… or at least the ruins of it. I'd heard the grublins speaking in their strange tongue of some interesting discovery in the deepest chambers of the ruins. I decided that it would be the better part of valor to follow them.

I tracked the grublins deep into the mountain I noticed that they were carrying some sort of ornately decorated chest.

"We're here," said one of the grublins, as they stepped into a chamber.

In the center of the chamber, surrounded by crumbled stone, was a massive orange crystal. Within, there were four figures: three dragons, and a dragonfly. Even through the crystal, I could tell that they were the ones I'd been searching for!

"Break it," commanded the grublin leader.

One of lesser grublins stepped towards the crystal and bashed it with its mace. Suddenly cracks started to radiate across the crystal, and light started to pour forth from the crystal. On top of that, voices were heard echoing around the chamber.

"_Spyro, __stop!__"_

"_I… I can't"_

The cracks widened, and the light got brighter.

"_Guys, get close to me, now!"_

The crystal blew itself apart, and the grublins shielded themselves until the dust settled. As it did, the dragons were revealed to be lying on the ground unconscious.

"Shackle them!" said the grublin leader.

The grublins carrying the chest set it down and opened the lid, revealing a trio of what looked like green, crystalline snakes. The removed the snakes from the chest. They then had the other grublins lift up the unconscious dragons, then approached the dragons and placed the crystal snakes against their necks. The crystal snakes sprang to life and coiled around their necks forming into necklaces. They then dragged the three dragons away.

I moved out of my hiding spot, carefully checking to make sure it was safe, and picked up the dragonfly, Sparx, who was just waking up.

"Who are you?" said Sparx, "where's Spyro? What's going on?"

"Shhh… you're making too much noise," I whispered.

I then set out to follow the grublins who'd taken Spyro and the others.

Jolt's POV

_Ow__… __where __am __I? _I though.

"Spyro… Jolt… Open your eyes!" said Cynder.

I did so, and then slowly got to my feet. I checked quickly, and saw that the Charge Crystal saw safe, and so was the Blade of Storm's Fury. I looked around… and I didn't recognize my location. We were on a platform suspended over what appeared to a pool of magma. We were positioned next to a large stone disc. It had what looked like some sort of attachment point on top, but there were no chains connected to it.

I looked over and Spyro and Cynder… it seemed that they had grown a bit since he had used his powers to protect us during the Night of Eternal Darkness. I then realized that I had as well.

_How __long __have __we __been __out? _I thought.

"Cynder, what happened?" Said Spyro, "Where are we?"

"I don't know, it's all a blur," Said Cynder

"Yeah," I said, "me too. My head's pounding".

"Shhh. Wait!" Said Cynder, "That's not your head. I hear it too…"

I listened carefully, and heard the sound of large drums being played somewhere nearby. This only compounded the pounding headache, which I did in fact have.

"What is that?" I asked hesitantly.

All around us, torches at the edges of the chamber started to light up.

"Sparx, is that you?" Spyro asked.

"I don't think so," I said

More torches lit up revealing some sort of insectoid creatures. I didn't know what they were, but they definitely weren't allies of ours.

"For once I wish it was," said Cynder.

The creatures seemed to be cackling maliciously… or possibly cheering? I couldn't tell… either way, I didn't like it.

"What are they doing?" asked Cynder, sounding worried.

"Let's not stick around to find out," said Spyro, "Come on!"

"Yeah… let get out of here," I said.

We started to move towards where we could see another platform directly ahead of us. Suddenly I felt something pulling me back… like I was on a leash. Cynder apparently thought was Spyro or I doing it as she paused to complain about it.

"Argh!" said Cynder, "What is your problem?"

We then noticed our new necklaces… or should I say collars. They resembled green, coiled, crystalline snakes. And extending from these collars were arcing ropes of energy, which was traveling back to the stone disc, and looping through the attachment point on top.

"Oh," we all said simultaneously, "This can't be good…"

We realized there wasn't anything we could for moment: we were trapped.

Another group of these creatures arrived, along with a larger one that was probably some sort of leader. It started speaking in a language I was sure i was unfamiliar with, yet somehow I could understand it clearly.

"They're awake," said the enemy leader, "don't let them escape!"

A large number of the insectoid creatures dived into the ground where they we standing, and then burst out of the ground next to us. We started to fight them off. We were still out of elemental energy, so we used basic melee combos to defeat them. They we actually pretty weak, and each one fell after only a few hits… of course, the sword I was wielding helped as well. After several waves I noticed that our foes were backing off… but why?

"Why are those things running away?" I asked, and then felt the ground starting to shake, "Uh oh…"

Suddenly from the magma pool below, a massive golem burst forth. It raised one of its huge fists and slammed it down onto our platform while roaring, causing a crack to open up. The fracture ran from the edge platform right through the stone disc we were chained to. The stone disc now looked weakened enough to break with some effort. The Spyro and Cynder noticed this as well.

"We have to break this thing," said Cynder, "It's holding us down!"

We rushed up to the stone disc and started bashing it, but it was slow going… that is, until the golem slammed it fist into the disc, intent on smashing us flat. We quickly dodged out of the way, and watched as the golem's fist completely shattered the stone disc. We were now free from that thing, though we were still chained to each other.

We rushed towards the golem, but we quickly discovered just how awkward it was to move while chained together. After several minutes of constantly attacking and dodging, our foe showed no signs of weakening.

"This chain is slowing us down!" I said, "We can't fight it!"

"We have to move in unison!" said Spyro, "Follow my lead!"

"Why should YOU lead?" said Cynder.

Before this argument could go any further, we heard the golem readying itself for anther attack.

"Uh-oh… take cover!" said Spyro.

We quickly took to the air in unison, deftly avoiding the golem's fist as it smashed down on the platform.

"Okay," conceded Cynder, "good idea… you lead".

We flew further away from the golem, as watched as it became increasingly annoyed at our continual dodging. It was at this point I noticed a new figure had entered the chamber: it was a Cheetah wearing a green traveler's cloak.

He swiftly drew out a bow and fired an arrow straight at the golem. It was a _very_ well placed shot, and went straight into the golem's eye. From were the arrow hit, a cloud of purple smoke started emerging. It tried to punch at the Cheetah, but seeing as it was now partially blinded, the golem's punch went wide, and the Cheetah dodged with ease.

Instead, the only thing the punch hit was one of the rooms support columns, knocking it over right on top of the golem's other hand. The golem reared back in pain and shook it's injured hand while in submerged back into the magma pool, looking embarrassed. I noticed that the column had fallen in such a way that it formed a convenient bridge to the ledge where our mysterious protector was standing.

With the chaos of the battle now over, we returned to the platform where we started. We then looked over at the Cheetah, wondering who exactly he was. It was around this time that Sparx showed up, flying over from where the Cheetah was standing.

"Hey, Spyro, man," said Sparx happily, "you're alive!"

"Sparx! It's good to see you too!" replied Spyro, "You okay?"

"Huh, you know," said Sparx, "little stiff, voice keeps changing, but I'm good".

I couldn't help but chuckle a little at that, but we had more important matters to attend to, and apparently Cynder thought the same.

"Hey, this reunion is really touching and everything," said Cynder, "but shouldn't we be going? Unless, you WANT to wait for that thing to climb back up…"

"Yeah," I added, "I'd hate to think what it might do to Sparx…"

Sparx suddenly looked around uncomfortably. Mean while Spyro, Cynder and I we more focused on the Cheetah.

"Who is he?" asked Spyro.

"I don't know," said Sparx, "all he said was 'Shhh, you're making too much noise'".

I snickered at that.

"I like him already!" said Cynder.

Our group climbed up onto the fallen pillar, and headed over to speak with our apparent ally.

"Spyro, Cynder, Jolt," said the Cheetah, " are you alright? Anything broken?"

"We're shaken a little," said Spyro, "but not too badly… thanks to you".

The Cheetah sighed, and then continued.

"I am relived," he said, "I had feared I might be too late. My name is Hunter".

'_I __look __forwards __to __the __day __we __can __meet, __Hunter __of __Avalar__'__, _I remembered.

"Hunter," said Spyro, sounding awed, "you've been tracking us!"

"For far too long, friend," said Hunter, as we started to head towards the exit.

"When you didn't return to the temple," said Hunter, "the elder dragon, Ignitus, sent me to find you. That was nearly _three __years_ ago".

_Wait __a __minute, _I thought, _did __he __say __THREE __YEARS?_

"What? Three years?" said Spyro, sounding just as shocked as I was feeling, "But that's impossible!"

"Yes. I'm sure this news comes as quite a shock," said Hunter, "Forgive me the brevity of my explanation, but this is not the place to account for missing time".

As if to punctuate this statement, a section of the ceiling fell, blocking us from returning to the previous chamber.

"We are not safe here," said Hunter, "Follow me!"

He then ran off down the passage, and we hurried to keep up.

Meanwhile

Warfang Dragon Temple

Tempest's POV

It was late, yet I couldn't sleep. My dreams were filled with images that at the same time were both wonderful and terrible… I saw Spyro and Cynder… they we okay! I wondered for a moment why I didn't see Jolt, but then I remembered what the Chronicler had told us about our necklace's ability to let us see feel what each other were feeling, and even see through each other's eyes. I also saw them fighting off a small army of Grublins, and then being attacked by a massive golem… only to be rescued by Hunter! I hurried out to tell, the Guardians the wonderful news.

Outside my room, I almost immediately ran into Gneiss.

"Tempest? Did you have a strange dream involving Spyro and Cynder too?" he asked.

"Yeah, I was just on my way to tell the Guardians about it," I replied.

"I think Ignitus is still up, he should be in the library," said Gneiss, "let's go tell him what we saw".

We hurried off to the temple's library, and as expected, we found Ignitus still up, working late as usual. He hadn't changed much in the three years we'd known him… he was still the same kind natured dragon that we'd met in that cave in the swamps.

As we entered the library, Ignitus looked up from the book he'd been reading to speak with us.

"Young dragons, what are you still doing up?" asked Ignitus, "with the way things are, you need to be well rested so you may be ready for the Dark Master's next assault".

"We know, Ignitus, but we had a vision about Spyro, Cynder, and Jolt," I said. We then told him what we'd seen.

As we finished recounting the events of our dream, we saw Ignitus smiling about what we'd told him.

"This is excellent news young dragons," said Ignitus, "they'll be safe with Hunter guiding them. I know this will be difficult, and that you want to go flying to their aid, but you must remain in the city for now. As you know, Hunter has standing orders to bring them here, and we must trust him to get the job done".

"Alright, Ignitus, well do our best to restrain ourselves," said Gneiss, "come on Tempest, let's try to get some rest".

With that, we headed back to our rooms to try once again to sleep. We were glad to know that our friends were not only back, but that they were on their way here right now.

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><p>AN: And there we go! Next time... Through the Catacombs.


	3. Chapter 3: Through the Catacombs

A/N: and here's chapter 3! Enjoy

Disclaimer: I don't own the Legend of Spyro, only my OC's

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><p>Chapter 3: Through the Catacombs<p>

Jolt's POV

We continued deeper into the ruined tunnels. Soon, we came to a broken bridge, leaving a series of small platforms that stretched into the abyss below. As we approached, Hunter looked around quickly and then said "It's getting closer"

He then leapt across the ledges quickly and agilely. As he did, one of the platforms collapsed behind him, leaving a much wider gap to cross.

"You go first Cynder," said Sparx, "It's safer for me… safer for me I mean…"

"Quiet," replied Cynder, "you'll give us away!"

We then started to leap across the platforms for ourselves. When we reached the spot where the pillar had collapsed during Hunter's crossing, we took to the air and flew across instead. As we landed in the last platform before the far side of the pit, the Golem reappeared. It reared up and grabbed the pillar we were standing on. The Golem ripped the pillar out of the ground and started swinging it around in an attempt to send us flying. We quickly braced ourselves, grabbing the vines that coated the platform. We did our best the hold on as the Golem shook us all over the place.

By this point, the Golem had become rather annoyed, and as a result rammed the pillar we holding onto into the wall. Amazingly enough the wall ended up being very weak, and we were pushed through completely unharmed.

On the far side of this wall, we move along until we came upon a large cluster of green crystal. As we approached it, Hunter came climbing up from one of the lower ledges in this chamber.

"Hunter, give us a moment to gather our strength," said Spyro.

Sparx then flew over to Hunter to speak with him.

"You might want to stand back" Said Sparx, "this can get weird…"

Hunter, of course, ignored him.

"It's fascinating," Said Hunter, "how your kind draws strength from these crystals. Dragons are truly remarkable".

"Yeah, you say that now, until one tries to kill you. And by 'one' I mean _her_," said Sparx, pointing at Cynder.

Cynder's only response was to glare at him angrily.

"I am aware of Cynder's past," said Hunter, "but Ignitus trusts her, and that's good enough for me".

Cynder perked up significantly at that.

Spyro then stepped over to the crystal, and placed his paw on its surface. I followed along behind him and did the same. We then tuned to look at Cynder, who hadn't acted yet.

"It's alright," I said, "go on, Cynder".

She stepped over join us in front of the crystal, then she placed her paw on it as well.

As she touched the crystal, it began to glow, and smaller shards of the crystal started orbiting around us. Before our eyes, a vision of the Chronicler appeared. He then began to speak to us.

"Spyro, as a rare purple dragon, you can wield many abilities that others can not," said the Chronicler, "Now, it is time to awaken those powers within you: Fire, Electricity, Ice, and Earth".

As the Chronicler list off these elements' I swear I could see the symbols for each of these element hovering in midair in front of Spyro.

"Cynder… while most other dragons can wield only a single element," said the Chronicler, "your exposure to the darkness has gifted you with abilities most uncommon: Poison, Fear, Wind, and Shadow."

Again, I'm almost certain I saw symbols for each of those powers floating in front of Cynder. Now came my turn.

"Jolt," said the Chronicler, "as an Arc Dragon, you are of one of the rare varieties of Dragon who can wield more that one element. As you are already aware, wield Electricity and Light".

He then added mentally so only I could hear, _"__You __also __still __have __that __precognitive __ability __I __granted __you __three __years __ago. __Use __it __wisely__"__._

The vision then ended.

After this, we started smashing the crystal to fill up our magical energy, but we were interrupted when the strange stony nodules on the walls burst open releasing more of those bug creatures. Hunter apparently was familiar with them.

"Grublins! Be careful!" said Hunter. He then leapt up onto one of the elevated platforms in the corner of the room, and drew his bow. We started to fight these 'Grublins', now using our full range of powers. Spyro started this battle off with a Comet Dash straight into one group, while Cynder whipped up a Cyclone. Meanwhile, I blasted our foes with Light Bursts, which seemed unusually effective. This told me one thing: These 'Grublins' were constructs of Dark Magic.

Just as we cleared out this wave of enemies, another group dropped in on us. Hunter took a moment out of shooting the Grublins with arrows to give us some advice.

"Grublins! Don't let them surround you!" said Hunter.

The battle went on like this for a little while longer, but eventually we cleared the area. We then noticed some thorny vines blocking our path. Following common sense, Spyro breathed fire on the vines, burning them away and opening the path forwards.

We moved down the next set of corridors, and soon came to a tall room. In front of us, there was a heavy looking stone sphere holding down a switch. Up one side of the room, there was a series of platforms leading towards the top, and hopefully the surface eventually. Figuring that we'd probably need it, Spyro picked it up with his jaws.

"Ancestors!" mumbled Spyro, "This thing's even heavier it looks!"

It tuned out this was quite an accurate statement, since Spyro couldn't fly while carrying it, not even with both Cynder and me helping lift him! We hefted the small boulder up the first few ledges when we came to what seemed at first glance to be a dead end. There we signs that there w

As supposed to be platforms leading higher, but it appeared they were currently retracted into the wall. It looked like we were stuck… until that is we noticed the unusual device on the wall. It looked like some sort of control for something, and had a picture of lightning bolt underneath it. Seeing this clue, I immediately zapped the panel with Electricity. When I did this the gauge on the device started filling up. When it reached the top, the retracted platforms slid out of the wall, opening the path forwards. We hauled ourselves up these newly revealed ledges, and after a few near falls, we reached the top platform, where we found Hunter waiting for us. We also found a place to deposit the heavy object Spyro was carrying. When he set it down on the pressure plate, the door leading forwards slid open.

We then moved into the next chamber. It turned out to be a massive chamber… there were multiple tall platforms spread across the chamber, along with cascading waterfalls, and light streaming in through the ceiling. This last detail gave us hope that we'd soon be out here.

"There's a light up there," said Spyro, "We must be getting close…"

Hunter ran off towards a vine-covered wall, and quickly dashed to the top of the pillar.

"Here, this way," said Hunter, "this leads to the surface!"

We hurried to follow him, timing our ascent up the pillars and jumps across the gaps to avoid having to deal with effects of the restraint collars. After jumping, climbing, and gliding our way all around the room, we caught up with Hunter on a ledge high up on the room's north wall. It was then that the Golem returned.

It reared up from somewhere below, and punched one of the room's pillars, knocking over and creating a convenient shortcut in case we fell. Hunter quickly dodged away as the Golem approached.

"Keep going," Shouted Hunter, "I'll distract it!"

We quickly started climbing up the vines towards the next ledge, with me using my precognition to know just when to dodge. Before long we'd reached the room's highest ledge. As we moved along its length, we climbed up onto a large stone block that had been placed up here for some unknown reason. As we reached the top of the block, an image of the Golem punching the block crossed my mind.

"Guys, Quick," I shouted, "Jump back!"

It turned out that my warning came just in time: as we landed back on the solid platform, the Golem shattered the block… and promptly got its arm stuck in the wall! The Golem, obviously quite annoyed about this, started trying to pull its arm out. As it did, we heard a series of loud cracking sounds… and lava started leaking from its arm, and then the Golem's arm snapped off completely! The Golem roared in pain about this, then fled to lick its self-inflicted wounds.

We then stepped over to examine the remaining portion of the Golem's arm, which was still solidly lodged in the wall. Inside the broken-off end of the arm was… a purple crystal. I was unfamiliar with this type of crystal, At first glance, I mistook it for a fury crystal… but then I noticed that it was radiating Dark power.

"What is that?" asked Spyro, "I've never seen one like that before…!"

"Spyro, be careful," said Cynder cautiously.

"It isn't natural," said Hunter, "That crystal radiated with dark magic. Destroy it quickly!"

As I stepped closer, I felt my energy being drained. I quickly backed out of its range.

"Spyro, Cynder… keep back," I said, "I'll handle this thing…"

I then focused my power, and then blasted the dark crystal with my Light breath. When my attack struck, I swear I could hear the crystal _screaming __in __pain!_ The crystal shattered, and the path was once again clear. We continued to this chamber's exit, passing into the next hall, which was generally U-shaped. We hurried across the hall, entering the doorway on its far side with no difficulties.

"We are close to the surface," said Hunter, "it's best that we remain unheard…"

While he probably meant that warning for all of us, Sparx chose to take it personally.

"Alright, big cheetah man!" said Sparx, "I get the message. Sheesh!"

We then moved down a short staircase into the next, and hopefully last chamber. I took a good look around this area. We were standing on a wide bridge, with a large stone door at the far end. There was a large brass horn hanging from the ceiling, and a winch mechanism mounted on the wall. This winch was large enough that two of us would have to operate it at the same time. Hunter had apparently worked out the likely to this puzzle.

"The horn," said Hunter, "it must be part of some locking mechanism".

"Honestly," said Sparx, "why not just a lock and key like normal folks?"

"Because Sparx," I sighed, "that would be too easy. So much for remaining unheard…"

Cynder and I moved over to use the winch, while Spyro watched our backs. It turned out that this was a very good plan, since the moment we started spinning the winch, a small army of Grublins attacked us. We kept up with our respective tasks, and I took a moment to glance back to see how Spyro was holding up. It seemed he was doing just fine: I watched as he leapt into the air, then slammed down, summoning a wave if magma as he did so. Soon enough, we'd brought the horn all the way down to the floor.

"Spyro, hurry up and open this door!" said Hunter.

"Actually," said Spyro, looking at the horn, "That would be a better job for Cynder. She's the only one here who can control Wind".

Cynder agreed, and stepped forwards. She then began to channel Wind through the massive horn. It emitted I single, low, resounding note. In response, the doors slowly began to swing open.

"Hurry up and open the door!" shouted Sparx impatiently, "Open, open, open…"

After a short while, the doors finally finished opening. We started towards the door to leave this place, but we were interrupted by a certain very persistent Golem.

The Golem breathed a jet of flame towards us, and then used its remaining hand to grab Cynder. Spyro and I quickly planted our feet and started tugging on the tether that connected the three of us and, with some effort; we managed to pull Cynder free. We then took to the skies and flew as quickly as we could towards the exit.

"This way! Quickly!" said Hunter, leading us down the exit corridor.

As we flew down the passage, the Golem reached in after us, just barely missing us. Instead, it only ended up punching the side of the tunnel in frustration. This caused the passage behind us to collapse, preventing us from going back. However, it didn't matter at this point… we were already out.

We landed next to Hunter, taking a moment to catch our breath after that close shave.

"What _WAS_ that thing?" asked Spyro, voicing the question we all had.

"There'll be time for that," Said Hunter, "For now, we'll follow the river… it will lead us to shelter, where we can rest. And then we're off the Warfang, the Dragon City, where Ignitus _and_ your friends will be expecting us".

We then followed Hunter down the corridor, which hopefully would lead us out of this ruined place.

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><p>AN: And there we go! next time, Twilight Falls... see you then!


	4. Chapter 4: twilight Falls

A/N: Her's Chapter 4! enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own the Legend of Spyro, only my OC's

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><p>Chapter 4: Twilight Falls<p>

Jolt's POV

Hunter led us down the corridor, which eventually came to an underground river. Hunter turned and started running and leaping along the side of the river. Spyro, Cynder and I took flight and followed him. We flew along, following the river as it meandered back and forth.

Eventually, we came to the end of the cave, where the river cascaded down the mountainside. We landed on a rock in the middle of the river… and took our first look at the sky in three years. It was one of the most beautiful things I'd ever seen.

It was night… The twin moons hung high overhead; the stars twinkled like jewels. Everything was so quiet and peaceful… truly the calm before the storm.

We glided to the riverbank at the base of the waterfall, where Hunter was waiting for us. After fighting off a small group of Grublins, we crossed the river and walked through the woods, defeating more small groups of Grublins as we went along. Eventually, we caught up to Hunter again near a dead tree.

As soon as we approached him, another group of Grublins appeared… and these ones had wings!

"They've found us!" said Hunter.

We fought them off, with claws, horns, Elemental Powers, and in my case a blade. As soon as we took them out, another wave appeared.

"Don't let them escape," said Hunter, "or others will come!"

We fought off this wave of Grublins as well, along with their larger, more powerful commander. After we took them out, we moved over to the dead tree that Hunter was standing next to, then pushed it over, forming a makeshift bridge. Once again, Hunter ran ahead.

"I'll wait for you at the top of the cliff," said Hunter.

"He's certainly impatient, isn't he?" Sparx said.

"Well, given how long he's been searching for us, I can't say I blame him for wanting to complete his task".

"Yeah, I guess… huh?" said Spyro, suddenly glancing over shoulder as if something had caught his attention.

"What is Spyro?" asked Cynder

"I'm not sure," said Spyro, sounding distracted, "I just _feel_ that there's something over that way that I need to find…"

Spyro then stared walking up the hillside… almost the opposite direction from where Hunter had gone. He led us through a short cave illuminated by glowing fungi. On the far side of the cave, we came upon a strong wind current. Spyro leapt into it, and we had no choice but to follow him.

The wind current dropped us off in another part of the forest, where we were attacked by a single Grublin… but there was something different about this one… it was wearing what looked like some sort of mask. It was half red, half yellow. We tried attacking it, but nothing seemed to work! That is, until Spyro tried using Plasma… causing the Grublin's mask to go flying off.

With the absence of its mask, the Grublin was now vulnerable to our attacks, though it still absorbed a surprising amount of damage before falling. After this we took a look around small glen we were in. the only other item of interest here was a… treasure chest? Spyro moved over to the chest and opened the lid, finding what appeared to be a piece of armor… a tail guard. Also inside the chest was a short note, written in an unfamiliar hand.

_'Greetings to whosoever find this note… if you are reading this, then I have fallen to the darkness. The piece of armor in this chest is intended for use by the purple dragon. He… or possibly she for that matter is the one who shall have the power to stop the Dark Master. May the purple dragon use this gift wisely, and may the ancestors look after you'._

_Signed, a friend._

* * *

><p>"Huh… interesting," I said, "I guess this must be what you were looking for Spyro?"<p>

"It must be, I don't feel any strange pull anymore," Spyro replied, "but I wonder who this 'friend' is…"

"I've got no idea… but at least whoever it is seems to be an ally," I said, "but we should probably get going now… Hunter is probably wondering where we are".

We took to the skies and flew back to where we pushed the tree over earlier. We landed and crossed the river, where we came to the cliff Hunter was waiting on top of. The side of the cliff before us covered with patches of vines, creating a convenient path for anyone with the strength the climb them.

We started up the vines, moving incrementally to avoid putting tension on the chain binding us together. However, we reached a point where our previous actions wouldn't work. Instead we needed to come up with an alternate plan… I told Spyro and Cynder to hold on tight, and started to climb back down, pulling the energy chain taught. I pulled myself down a few more feet, until I simply couldn't move any further.

I took a deep breath… and let go of the wall. The tension on the chain caused me to slingshot skywards. As I passed Spyro and Cynder, I shouted for them to let go, and as I continued upwards, the momentum transferred to them, pulling them behind me. We then came into alignment with the highest set of vines on the wall, allowing us to grab on to something solid once again. We then climbed up to the top of the cliff.

After we reached the top, Hunter led us over to a small campsite. Hunter then called a falcon down, and tied a message to its leg.

"Go," instructed Hunter, "tell Ignitus I have found them".

The falcon then flew off. Meanwhile, Spyro, Cynder, and I were trying to remove the collars tying us together… with little success.

"Ah, it's no use," said Cynder with agitation.

"Well… maybe if we try twisting it?" asked Spyro.

"Twist what?" replied Cynder, "It's Magic!"

I shook my head, not sure what to try either. We then stepped over to speak with Hunter. Sparx floated along behind us, apparently amused by our actions.

"Heh, heh… I can watch this all day," said Sparx.

As we reached Hunter, we could see a massive volcanic peak in the distance. It was actively erupting, causing it to look quite menacing. I wasn't exactly sure, but I thought I saw some sort of objects hovering high above the volcano's summit. I didn't know how, but I knew that was where our foe was waiting for us. The others seemed to have picked up on this, as well.

"The Dark Master… he's returned, hasn't he?" asked Spyro.

"I am afraid so," said Hunter, "Just shortly after your disappearance. He struck quickly, fueled by hatred and malice, reclaiming the throne at the temple, which through some dark magic he now suspends above the land… a symbol of his dominance. We've been at war ever since. And every day, his forces grow stronger, and ours lose hope".

Spyro looked absolutely devastated to hear this.

"I… I failed… they were all counting on me and I failed," said Spyro sadly, "How could I let this happen?"

"Some thing are beyond your control," said Cynder, attempting to him, "You shouldn't blame yourself".

"Yes, you can't change the past," I said, "You can only work towards the future".

Hunter stared into the campfire for a moment before replying.

"Spyro, You're lucky to be alive, all of you," said Hunter, "That was no ordinary creature back there. It was an ancient earth golem from the deep. They are the embodiment of destruction by Malefor himself. These are dark times".

Spyro closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them again, it was a look of determination on his face.

"He needs to be stopped," said Spyro, "I have to stop him".

Sparx immediately started panicking, and tried to convince Spyro to not get involved.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" said Sparx, "Slow down, tough guy. We don't need to go picking fights. I mean, we just woke up after being frozen for three years… got stuff to do".

I was about to respond to Sparx's cowardly statement, when an image flashed across my mind of some strange orbs of green energy striking out of the woods. Unfortunately, in this case the vision came a moment too late, as I watched as one of these orbs struck Cynder in the back of the head, knocking her out cold.

"What the?" said Sparx, "is she sleepy?"

Then, three more of these orbs came flying out of the woods, striking Spyro, Hunter, and me in rapid succession.

Just as I passed out, I heard Sparx slowly screaming 'Noooooo!' as if in slow motion.

Then, I saw nothing…

* * *

><p>AN: And there we are! Next time... let's check on Gneiss and Tempest, and see how they're holding out.


	5. Chapter 5: The Defense of Warfang

A/N: Finally! Here's chapter 5. as requested, it's a bit of original content. Personally, I'm not completely happy with this chapter yet, but i've kept you waiting too long for it as it is. Anyway, Happy Holidays!

Discalimer: i Don't own the Legend of Spyro, only My OC's

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><p>Chapter 5: The Defense of Warfang<p>

Gneiss' POV

_'It's taking too long,'_ I thought,_ 'why aren't they here yet? Could something have delayed them?'_

Hunter's message had arrived safely, though it didn't tell us much more than already knew.

I tried focusing on Jolt's mind, but I discovered he was unconscious… from what I could tell, he was somewhere in the Valley of Avalar. I really wanted to rush out there and find him, but Ignitus was right… we were needed here for now. So, I went out to inspect my troops.

Yes… that's right I said troops. Despite my young age, I was in command of a mixed unit of moles and dragons. I actually was really surprised that I'd been given this position… my best guess is that several factors were involved. First of all, the moles seemed respectful of any dragon, so that wasn't an issue.

The unit of dragons under my command was mostly a few years older then me, but they accepted me as their leader despite that, most likely because of support from the Guardians, and also fairly small amount of experience in leading the people of the Kaskia Isles. My second in command was a fire dragonelle named Torché. She was quite skilled with her Element… in fact; she might make a good Guardian some day.

Tempest was currently working with any dragons available that could use Water, Wind, or Ice to keep the city of burning to the ground. It was a nearly continuous task. She also had to deal with her 'personal honor guard', Maelstrom, who'd been keeping an eye on her ever since the evacuation of Tiderest, the Sea Dragon capitol city and Tempest's home. While she understood the reason for his presence, that didn't mean she had to be happy about the overprotective bodyguard who insisted on following her everywhere. At least he was skilled with his elements…

Anyway, today we were on patrol along the eastern wall. The Dark Armies were being quiet… disconcertingly so. I knew it was only a matter of time until…

"Commander Gneiss!" said Torché, "Grublin unit approaching. I've also spotted siege towers! Orders?"

"Prepare for battle, and please drop the 'Commander', it really doesn't suit me," I said.

With that, we hurried over to the wall to begin our part in the battle. The Moles prepped their cannons to deal with the besieging army. At the same time, I lead my group of dragons down to the convenient chokepoint created by the fallen pair of siege towers, which the Moles had wisely taken out first. We were up against about 50 Grublins of various types, along with several of their Orc commanders, some Wyverns, and a couple of trolls.

The battle commenced, with the Moles blasting away with the cannons, while down below my group took care of the ones that managed to slip by. We each attacked the enemies with our varying elements, with me using my Magma Burst in a different way to take them out in waves. I'd discovered that if I swiped my tail along the ground instead of jabbing it in, I would cause a fissure to open in the ground, creating a wall of magma. With our combined efforts, the group of enemies was soon defeated.

"Regroup back to the wall!" I said, "We need to make sure the defences remain intact!"

We flew back to the top of the wall. We soon discovered that some of the Grublins had managed to slip through, despite our caution. As a result, yet another one of the city's defense cannon had been damaged beyond immediate repair. At this rate, we'd run out of cannons soon. In the aftermath of this battle, I used the mental connection provided by the amulets we both wore to check how Tempest was doing.

"_Tempest, is everything alright on your end of the city?"_ I thought to her.

"_Yes, Gneiss," _Tempest replied, "_everything's okay for the moment… though we just had to fight off a wave of Aqua-Grublins. Have you gotten any additional visions about Jolt?"_

"_Unfortunately no," _I thought, _"how about you?"_

"_No… I hope they're okay," _Tempest thought.

"_Me too,"_ I replied.

With nothing else to do but hope for the best, we returned to our respective tasks…

_'Hurry up guys… we really need your help'_

* * *

><p>AN: And there we are! Next time... Chapter 6: Captured Again?


	6. Chapter 6: Captured Again

A/N: And here's Chapter 6! I hope everyone had a good holiday.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Legend of Spyro, only my OC's

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><p>Chapter 6: Captured Again<p>

Jolt's POV

_'Ow… not again… I REALLY hope this doesn't become a frequent occurrence',_ I thought.

I got to my feet, and took a look around. Spyro and Cynder were right next to me. Yet again, those who had captured us had, for whatever reason, failed to disarm me or remove my pendant! We were on a small hill in the center of a village of Cheetahs. Hunter was tied to a nearby wooden post by thick ropes. I saw that Sparx had been placed inside a lantern.

I heard the energy tether connecting our collars crackling. I turned to see why: were we chained to a large wooden post, which had a device wrapped around it that corresponded to the design of the collars.

'_Where did these Cheetahs get that thing?' _I thought.

As we stood there, a trio of armed Cheetahs approached us. And they didn't look happy… especially the leader. The lead Cheetah, who was wearing red, scowled at us, and then turned to speak with Hunter.

"Dragons…bah," said the Cheetah leader with disdain, "Do you have so little respect for our laws, that you form an alliance with the very ones who caused all our misfortunes?"

'_Great… he seems to be the kind of person who judges the many based off actions of the few,' _I thought.

"Chief Prowlus! The Dark Master," said Hunter, "He alone is responsible. This dragon is our last hope… you must see that!"

Chief Prowlus glanced over at us, but I could tell it would take far more to convince him. Assuming, that is he could be convinced.

"Yes, yes… the purple dragon… I know the story! But unlike you, I have not forgotten what they say Malefor was like when he was young," said Prowlus, "and I have not forgotten either, what SHE has done".

He then pointed at Cynder, who responded with an uneasy glance. I wanted to defend her from these accusations, it looked like Spyro did as well, but we both knew that arguing with Prowlus would get us nowhere.

"I relied on you, Hunter," said Prowlus as he continued his rant, "As I must rely on all of us in this village, to protect us. But you chose to abandon us… and bring the dangers of the outside world with you when you returned".

"The dangers are all around us!" Hunter shot back, "Don't pretend to ignore them!"

"Hey, can't you guys just arguing?" said Sparx, "It's getting awkward for everybody…"

Suddenly, I felt something: a malevolent presence… it felt like…

"Grublins! In the valley!" shouted one of the Cheetahs, "Prepare your weapons!"

From our position on the hilltop, we could see a group of flying Grublins coming towards the village. One of them formed a fireball in its hand, and then tossed it towards the village, setting one of the houses on fire.

'_Let me guess,' _I thought, '_Prowlus is going to try and blame us for this, as well…'_

"Now see what you've done?" Prowlus shouted at us.

'_Called it,'_ I thought, and then said out loud, "and how exactly did we cause this?"

"Let us go!" Said Spyro in desperation, "We can help!"

"Our warriors can handle this," said Prowlus.

By this time, the Grublins had arrived within the walls of the village.

"Now is not the time to be stubborn!" Said Cynder.

"Hey, a lot of weird stuff happens when they get upset," said Sparx, "I'd listen to them if I were you".

Prowlus considered for a moment, and then reluctantly agreed. He pulled some sort of key from his waist, and used it to unlock us from the post. At the same time one of the other villagers let Sparx out of the lantern.

We then ran in to join the battle.

"They are attacking the village," said one of the Cheetahs, "form a defense!"

We rushed in as the Grublins began to attack the village's buildings one by one. We started to attack them, but there was nothing we could do to put out the fires they set.

_'If Tempest was here, she could use her Water element to douse these fires. But wait… Cynder can use Wind! And the Blade of Storm's Fury can be charged Wind as well! Maybe if we combine the power of both…'_

"Cynder!" I said, "Try using your Wind element to blow the fires out!"

As she started to do this, I focused on charged up the Wind power of the Blade, spinning it to generate wind.

The combined power of the wind not only blew out the fires, but also blew the Grublin away… for now, at least.

"Huh… that worked even better than I expected," I said.

We then worked on mopping up the stragglers until Sparx saw something the distance flying this direction…

"Look, dragons! Yes!" Sparx said excitedly, "We are saved! Wooh!"

I looked over to see what Sparx was shouting about. I saw some… bright red creature coursing through the air. Even from this distance, I could tell they were definitely _not_ dragons. They were flying by waving their serpentine bodies through the air vertically. I know from watching Tempest fly that serpentine dragons move their bodies primarily horizontally in the air. Sparx seemed to have picked up on this fact by this point.

"Aaaaagh! Those aren't dragons!" screamed Sparx, "we're all going to die!"

More Grublins joined these strange beasts, and the battle commenced once more. By this point, I felt my fury energy was at capacity. I decided to go for it. When I did, instead of my usual fury attack, I felt… a differentenergy charge through my body. I noticed that a similar thing was happening with Spyro and Cynder as well, only they were being charged with Convexity.

Rather than release in a burst of power like I'd gotten used to, the energy supercharged us. When we next attacked, we released beams on concentrated energy: Convexity for Spyro and Cynder, Light for me. I noticed that the Blade of Storm's Fury had been supercharged as well. But then I realized something else was happening as well… the strange collar I was wearing started crackling… then it started _CRACKING! _Then, all at once it exploded out outwards, leaving me unharmed. This was a surprise… I was free, yet Spyro and Cynder were still chained to each other.

I tried striking the enemies with the sword and was rewarded when it not only damaged my foe… it completely disintegrated it! The battle didn't take too much longer after this.

In the aftermath, the Cheetahs started cleaning up the damage. Luckily, said damage was fairly minimal… only a few buildings required some minor repairs. The villagers were more shocked than anything.

Prowlus then approached us in a less hostile manner than before, with the other Cheetahs, with the exception of Hunter, who was still tied to the post, gathering around.

"Is everyone alright?" Prowlus asked.

"No. Meadow is missing," said one of the villagers, "He had gone upstream so search for herbs this morning and has not returned. We have to go find him!"

"No," Prowlus replied, "it is too dangerous to mount a search now…"

The other Cheetahs hung their heads in sadness. Spyro however had an idea.

"We'll go!" said Spyro, "We'll find your missing friend. Hunter can come with us".

An awkward silence fell over the village. Prowlus looked back and forth between Hunter and us, and then came to a decision.

"You are free to act as you see fit, but Hunter stays here," said Prowlus, "However, if you remain true to your word and return with Meadow, I may reconsider. And don't bother returning before then, as you'll likely only succeed only in attracting more Grublins to our village".

* * *

><p>We then headed out to begin our search, so we could release Hunter from his position of hostage. As we left the village, Spyro and Cynder registered the fact I was no longer chained.<p>

"Jolt, we all saw what happened back there," said Spyro, "how exactly did you manage to break the collar?"

"I don't know," I replied, "when I released my Fury, something strange occurred. The build-up of pure light energy within me must have been too much for the collar to handle, so it overloaded exploded".

"Do you think you could break our collars as well, Jolt?" asked Cynder.

"Possibly… but I doubt you'd want me to grievously injure you just so you can get that restraint off," I said.

"Ah… good point," said Cynder, "Maybe the Guardians will be able to help us with it?"

"Let's hope so," said Spyro, "anyway, let's get going… we need to find Meadow".

The river was easy to find, and we quickly followed it upstream. It wasn't long before we noticed a cave behind the waterfall at this end of the valley. Seeing as Meadow didn't appear to be out here anywhere, we tried inside the cave. This turned out to be the right choice, because a short distance inside we found a Cheetah pinned to the wall by three boulders: one on both wrists, and one covering his ankles.

_'How in Ancestor's name did he get up there? It's almost like he's been left here as… bait… uh oh'._

Suddenly, a group of Grublins of varying types burst out of the ground to attack us.

"It's a trap!" shouted Cynder.

We fought our way through them using our full range of powers. They came at us in several virtually identical waves. Eventually, the boulders holding up Meadow burst open, releasing a trio of winged Grublins. We started towards them, ready for another battle, but for once the Grublins showed some measure of intelligence by fleeing.

"Thank you… friends," said Meadow, "You saved my life".

"Finally, some gratitude," Sparx said moodily, "you're welcome".

"You've met Chief Prowlus, no doubt," Meadow replied, "Not all of us are of the same mind".

"Well _THAT'S _putting it mildly, isn't it?" said Cynder.

"Can you move?" asked Spyro, "We need to get you out of here".

"I'm sorry," said Meadow, as he tried to get up, but failed, "I'm afraid my leg is broken. Just go back to the village and tell them where I am…"

"Not a good idea," I said.

"Your leader doesn't trust us," said Spyro, "If we return without you, he'll likely assume the worst…"

"Yeah," added Cynder, "and blame _US_ for it".

"Uh, the fool," said Meadow, clearly frustrated, "There's a raft at the far end of the valley. If you bring it here, perhaps I could pull myself onto it".

_All right… what's the catch?_

"Okay, we'll do it," said Spyro.

"To launch it, you'll need the weights from the supply cave," said Meadow, "but it's locked".

"Oh," said Sparx, "that figures…"

"There's a hermit who lives beneath the waterfall at the other end of the valley," explained Meadow, "He has a key. But the cave is hidden. Look for the markings on the wall to open the path".

"Uh, psst, easy… uh, raft cave…" said Sparx whose comment then trailed off into random mumbling, "Got it! Yes!"

"We'll come back for you," said Spyro, "I promise".

With that, we set out again, to find the sequence of items we'd need to help Meadow.

* * *

><p>AN: And there we go! Next time: Searching through Avalar. See you then!


	7. Chapter 7: Searching Avalar Valley

A/N: Happy New Year! Here's Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I Don't own the Legend of Spyro, only my OC's

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><p>Chapter 7: Searching Avalar Valley<p>

Jolt's POV

We left the cave where Meadow located, and started heading downstream. Fairly soon, we reached an area where a wide waterfall came cascading down from the cliffs above to join the main river. Here, we came across another group of Grublins. After taking care of them, Sparx flew over to speak with me.

"Jolt… I thought of something," said Sparx, "you're not chained to Cynder and Spyro any more… maybe you should hurry ahead to the City!"

"I have several issues with that idea," I replied, "One, I don't know where Warfang is. Two, I'm not going to run off and leave my friends behind. Besides, I've followed Spyro on this crazy adventure before we were ever chained together… do you think I'd run off on him now?"

"Well… no," said Sparx, stumbling over his words, "it's just… never mind…"

"Come on, you two," said Cynder, "We need… huh?"

"What is it?" I asked.

"I feel like something is calling me," Cynder said, "it's coming from the behind that waterfall…"

"Let's check it out," said Spyro.

We flew up towards the waterfall, and soon found a U-Shaped cave. Within, there was not one, but _two_ treasure chests. One had the rune for Shadow; the other had the symbol for Convexity. This made it fairly obvious who these chests were meant for.

Spyro and Cynder opened the chests and recovered the armor pieces from them. Both pieces of armor appeared to be helmets. Additionally, the chest with Cynder's armor had what could have been a note at some point, but was now too faded to read. Spyro and Cynder tried their new armor, discovering that it fit perfectly. After this, we left this cave to continue our search.

As we searched all across the valley, we found the cave where the weights we'd need later were located… along with more Grublins. Then, we came across a point where another tributary added itself to the main river. From the looks of it, this appeared to be the entrance to the home of the hermit we needed to find.

We entered the small cave next to the waterfall at this location, coming out in a narrow, windy valley. We started up the winding path crossing back and forth repeatedly as we climbed up the valley's walls. Eventually, we reached the upper end of the valley. Here, we should be able to find that Hermit. Instead, we were ambushed by some spectral creatures, which upon closer inspection appeared to be Apes!

We started fighting them off, but more continued to appear. All in all I think the three of us fought off about 100 of them, using every trick at our disposal.

After a lengthy battle, every last Ghost Ape had fallen. Then, a gray-furred Cheetah stepped from the shadows.

"Come closer so I can see you in the light," said the Hermit in a rather croaky voice.

In response to his request, we stepped forwards.

"Tell me," said the Hermit, "why have you returned here?"

"What do you mean?" said Spyro, "I've never been here before…"

"Me neither," I said.

"Not you! The female," said the Hermit accusingly.

"You must be mistaken," said Cynder, rolling her eyes.

"Indeed, your appearance has changed, but not your eyes," said the Hermit, "Your eyes give everything away. You are the black dragon, Cynder, the terror of the skies… the Dark Master's puppet".

"I was… but… but I'm not anymore," stuttered Cynder, "I'm not proud of the things I've done".

"Oh? Is it _THAT _simple," said the Hermit, now sounding almost malicious "to turn your back on Malefor?"

"You don't have to listen to him, Cynder," said Spyro.

"Definitely… it will only cause you to doubt yourself," I added.

Suddenly, a screeching cry was heard from the cliffs above, we looked up to see more Ghost Apes on the cliffs. Oddly, they didn't leap down to attack us… they seemed content to stay back and watch…

The Hermit continued his little speech, gradually sounding more and more malevolent as he went.

"Did you not recognize the creatures that moved in the shadows?" The Hermit said, "The Apes too served the Dark Master, but more for their own greed and thirst for power than any true loyalty to him. This is how Malefor repaid them… Doomed to remain in the dark… feeding off the power of others, never being fulfilled. You can run… but you cannot hide, Cynder!"

Cynder hung her head low, unable to bear these accusations.

"Cynder, Jolt, let's go!" said Spyro, obviously angry about the Hermit remarks.

"Yeah, this Hermit is obviously a madman," I said.

We then turned and started back towards the entrance, knowing we'd get nothing more but angry if we stayed here any longer.

"Hahahaha," Cackled the Hermit evilly, calling after us, "the Dark Master will find you… hahahahahahaha!"

The Hermit then slunk off into the shadows once more.

"Cynder," Said Spyro, sounding concerned, "are you okay?"

"I'm fine!" Replied Cynder sharply, "I'll be fine…"

'_You certainly don't SOUND fine,' _I thought.

"Well, I'm not! Was I the only one who was freaked out by that guy? Said Sparx, "Sheesh, okay… at least it wasn't a complete waste of time".

To support his statement, he pulled out a key from behind his back. The key to the Supply Cave!

"Tadaa!" said Sparx happily.

"Normally I'd probably scold you for stealing, but I don't feel like hanging around that madman of a hermit any longer," I said.

"Come on," said Sparx anxious, "whatcha waiting for?"

* * *

><p>With the key now in our possession, we hurried back to where we saw the supply cave earlier. We found it without much difficulty, other than being attacked by more Grublins. Anyway, we reached the supply cave, and used the key to unlock it. Spyro and I then grabbed two of the stone weights, knowing we'd need them to release the raft. They appeared be the same type of weight we'd used to open that door in the catacombs. It also turned out that Spyro was correct in his earlier assessment: these things were unbelievably heavy for their size.<p>

We hauled the weights along, following the only route available to us while carrying these things: west to the area near the waterfall where we'd found the pieces of armor, north across the shallow part of the river, seeing as we couldn't swim while carrying these things, then back east across a flimsy-looking bridge. Form there, we continued east back towards the hermit's cave, using a fallen tree as a makeshift bridge, and crossing _VERY _carefully. We then continued east for a short distance further, before tuning south and finally arriving at the raft.

Along this circuitous route, we had to fight of several more Grublin ambushes… we Cynder ended up doing most of the fighting at this point, seeing as both Spyro and me were encumbered.

Once we reached the raft, we dropped the weights onto the pressure switches, causing the raft to re released. It was immediately pulled downstream by the current, but it stopped at a small wooden barricade that had been placed across the river. Spyro and I were glad to be released from the burden of those weights, and briefly massaged our sore jaws.

"Okay," said Spyro, "now that we've released the raft, how will we get it back to Meadow?"

"Well, I noticed that there appears to be a set of points to grab hold the raft," I said, "and you and Cynder _are_ still chained together…"

"I get it," said Cynder, "one of us will grab hold of the raft, while the other flies in front and pulls! But… what will you do while we're pulling the raft, Jolt?"

"On the way over here, I saw that the path back towards Meadow was obstructed by a pair of gates," I replied, "I can fly ahead and open the gates so you don't have to stop open these gate yourself. This way, we can rescue Meadow, and by extension, Hunter somewhat faster".

"Good idea, Jolt, we've already three years late getting back, we probably shouldn't keep our friends waiting any longer than necessary," said Spyro jokingly.

We then worked out our plans: Cynder would hold onto the raft for now, while Spyro pulled. As soon as I saw they were settled, I started flying upstream. At the fist gate, I fought off a mixed group of Grublins. With my claws, elements, and sword, I defeated them without too much difficulty. I then tuned two the gate control: a large drum wheel. I placed my forepaws on the wheel, and started spinning it. The gate slowly slid to the side, and finished opening just as Spyro and Cynder arrived.

I noticed there was a lever catch that would keep the raft from drifting away, letting Spyro and Cynder have a rest, before getting on the move again after swapping tasks.

I flew ahead to the second gate, and of course found the area infested with more Grublins, this time joined by their stronger commanders. As before, I fought my way through them, again using everything at my disposal. I went for a fury attack, but this time I found that I was performing as normal 'burst' fury. The blast of pure light energy quickly cleared away my remaining foes. I then operated the gate controls like before, and again opened the gate just as Spyro and Cynder arrived. They took another moment to catch their breath, and then we set out again.

Luckily there were not more obstructions along our path, and we soon arrived back at the cave were Meadow was waiting. I saw that he'd made a splint for his leg, and procured a large stick to use as a crutch. Meadow was quite glad to see us.

"You've come back," said Meadow with relief, "Thank you".

"Oh yeah, it was really no problem at all. I did all the work… I'm just kidding," said Sparx, who then added in a whisper, "I really did…"

"Let's get you home," said Spyro.

We carefully helped Meadow onto the raft, attempting to avoid aggravating his injuries. We then simply let the raft drift downstream to the dock outside the village, where it stopped all on its own. We then helped Meadow back off the raft and up the path into the village. Here, we found the villagers hard at work repairing the fairly superficial damage to the village. They took note of our arrival almost immediately.

"Meadow!" said one of the villagers, "You're wounded! How did…"

"I will be fine," interrupted Meadow, "Thanks to these three dragons".

Sparx's face showed a distinct lack of satisfaction at this statement.

"Meadow, please forgive me," said Prowlus, "These dragons willingly sought to help you when I chose not to".

The villagers approached Hunter, and untied him from the post, showing that Prowlus was a Cheetah of words.

"I do not share your faith in this dragon, Hunter," said Prowlus, sounding contrite, "but by putting you in chains, I committed an error".

"We _ALL _make mistakes," said Hunter calmly, knowing that Prowlus was only doing what he felt was right.

"Yes, and I shall try to atone for mine if you permit me," Said Prowlus, pulling a hand-written note out of his pocket, "Use the forbidden tunnel. It will lead you directly to the Dragon City. If this dragon is indeed our last hope, then I bid you safe passage… and good luck".

"We _COULD _use your help," offered Hunter.

Prowlus didn't reply, but obviously was conflicted about what to do.

"Very well," Said Hunter, "the invitation shall be left open".

Hunter then led us out of the village, and across the valley towards where we'd recovered the raft. We soon came to a section of the valley wall marked with a simple symbol.

"If you wish to do anything else here do it now," said Hunter, "Meet me here as soon as you are ready to set out for Warfang. I shall be waiting for you".

Spyro, Cynder, and I shared a quick glace, and came to a decision.

"No need to wait, Hunter," said Spyro, "the sooner we reach Warfang, the better".

Hunter nodded in acknowledgement, and then pushed on the section wall with the symbol on it revealing it to be a hidden door. We then started down into the dark of the tunnel.

"Uh oh," said Sparx, "Hunter, do we _HAVE _this way?"

"If we march quickly, we shall reach the Dragon City by daybreak".

"Yeah, yeah," muttered Sparx, "thanks for answering".

We then moved down the tunnel… finally back on track to reach Warfang.

* * *

><p>AN: And there we are! Next time: Spyro, Cynder, and Jolt finally arrive in Warfang. See you then!


	8. Chapter 8: The Dragon City

A/N: And Here's Chapter 8! Our Heroes have finally reached Warfang.

Disclaimer: I don't own The Legend of Spyro, Only my OC's

Enjoy!

* * *

><p>Chapter 8: The Dragon City<p>

Jolt's POV

We moved briskly down the tunnel, hoping to get to Warfang as quickly as possible. Suddenly, Hunter stopped and crouched down, listening to the ground.

"I feel vibrations in the earth," said Hunter, "We must be getting close".

"Finally!" said Sparx.

Meanwhile, Spyro, Cynder, and I stepped over to look out one of the windows along the tunnel, which provided a decent view of the city. From what we could see, it was quite beautiful.

"I've never seen the Dragon City before," said Spyro, sounding amazed.

"It was built long ago by the moles in honor of their friendship with the dragons," Hunter said, "Before the Dark Master, dragons were quite revered".

All of a sudden, we heard a distant sound. I couldn't tell what it was, but I didn't like it.

"Sshh!" said Cynder.

"I heard it too," said Hunter, "Quickly!"

We hurried to the end of the tunnel, and emerged out into the city.

"It has begun," said Hunter.

From the direction massive volcanic peak to the north-west, a massive army of the Dark Master's minions was marching towards the city. Waves of fireballs were being launched towards the ramparts. Even from here, we could see the city's defenders fleeing from this attack. I knew that we'd need get over there and aid them very soon.

"This way," Shouted Hunter, as he pointed us down a specific path, "Stay close!"

He then started running down the path. We hurried along in a futile attempt to keep up with him. Suddenly, I received a brief vision: one of the fireballs was going to miss the ramparts, strike a nearby tower, knocking over to come crashing down on the exact path we were on!

"Guys, stop!" I shouted, "The tower is going to fall!"

Right on time, the fireball knocked the tower over separating us from Hunter… if we hadn't stopped when we did; it's likely we would have been crushed!

"Whoa! That was too close," said Cynder, "Thanks Jolt. Hunter, are you okay?"

"I'm alright!" said Hunter, "But you won't be able to get through this way. Go, find Ignitus!"

"Okay!" said Spyro, "Good luck!"

We started down a side path, passing down an alleyway. We soon came to a small courtyard, where we found that one of the city's buildings was on fire. Through the building's windows, we could see several Moles trapped in the fire.

"Help!" shouted the Moles, "Please! Help us!"

"Spyro, look!" said Cynder.

"They need our help!" Spyro replied.

I thought about using the same strategy we'd used back in the Cheetah Village, but I realized that this fire was too strong for that… we'd just be wasting our energy to even attempt it. However, there was what looked like a fountain nearby, but it was currently dry.

"Spyro, Cynder!" I said, "Maybe we could use that fountain over there, assuming we can get it running".

"Good idea, Jolt," said Spyro, "let's see what we can do".

We ran down the road next to the fountain, and soon came to another courtyard. This one contained a large drum wheel, a pile of buckets, and some Grublins. We took care of the Grublins, and turned our attention to the drum wheel. Spyro and Cynder spun it, while I watched their backs.

As soon as they finished spinning the wheel, water began to flow down a nearby channel, filling the pool if the fountain. We then each grabbed one of the many buckets piled here, and hurried back to the burning building. The flames had spread significantly since we'd left to get the water running, but we still had to try putting it out.

We rushed over to the pool, filled our buckets, and took to the sky. We flew over to the burning building and dumped our buckets onto the flames. It dampened them down for a moment, but a moment the fire flared back up as strong as ever.

"This isn't working!" said Cynder, "We need to try something else!"

"I know," I replied, "but what else can we try?"

Our answer came when I noticed that the water's surface rippling oddly. It then rose up and formed into the shape of a serpentine dragon! This watery dragon then lashed out, pouring itself into the burning building. It then retracted back into the pool, leaving the fires completely extinguished. Then, we saw someone climbing out of the pool, someone we hadn't seen in three whole years: Tempest.

She was followed out of the pool by several other serpentine dragons, only a couple of which were Sea Dragons, while the rest appeared to be a similar, albeit somewhat different variety of dragon. Meanwhile a small group of Ice Dragons arrived from nearby.

"Tempest!" I shouted with joy.

"Jolt?" Tempest replied, "Spyro, Cynder! You've made it!"

"Yes, but we've gotten separated from Hunter," I said, "We need to get through the city and find Ignitus and the other Guardians. Where's Gneiss? Is he okay?"

"Last I heard," Tempest replied, "he was helping guard the eastern wall. I think he's still okay, but it might be a good idea to go check".

At this point, the Moles who had been trapped in the building came over to us.

"Thank you… thank you… you… you saved our lives," said one of the Moles.

"It's no big deal. Risking lives, saving people… dodging danger… taking it to the man," Sparx said, chucking, "It's an occupation".

Suddenly, another Mole appeared at the edge of the rampart above.

"Look out! Siege engines!" Shouted the Mole, "They are sending in their war machines!"

From here, we see that atop the ramparts, there was a single golden cannon, which was currently manned by a single Mole. Nearby, there were several piles of broken metal, which may have been more of these cannons at some point. Spyro then turned towards the recently rescued Moles.

"Listen to me!" said Spyro, "Everyone who can still fight must go to the ramparts!"

Several of the Moles stepped forwards.

"The rest of you, run," said Cynder, "Get under cover!"

Meanwhile, an icy blue dragon hurried over and gave a report to one of the Sea Dragons flanking Tempest.

"Princess Tempest," said the Sea Dragon, "another fire has broken out nearby… your orders, milady?"

"We need to deal with it now," Tempest replied, then turned back to us, "Sorry guys, I've got to go for now. Maybe once this siege has ended, we can catch up?"

"Sure," I said, "we've got to deal with the problem at hand first".

Spyro, Cynder, and I then hurried up towards the ramparts, with Sparx grumbling behind us.

"Okay! Wait! Putting out fires is one thing, but," said Sparx, "Hey! Wait for me!"

We arrived atop the ramparts, finding that the Mole was still manning what appeared to be the last remaining cannon on this part of the wall. Down below, we could see that the Dark Armies had brought a large battering ram up towards the city's main gate.

"Help! We can't let them destroy the catapult!" said the Mole, "It's our only chance against the battering ram!"

We hurried up to assist him, doing everything in our power to help. To make a very long and repetitive story short, we fought off the many waves of Grublins that were dropped from above to assault the city, reloaded the cannon's (or as the Mole insisted on calling it, catapult) ammo, smashed the siege towers apart when they managed to reach the wall, and at one point, helped the Mole get safely back to the cannon when a lucky shot knocked him from his seat.

The horde of enemies continued to pour towards the city in seemingly endless waves. I had no idea how much longer we could keep this up… we were getting tired, due to the fact that the last time we rested was when Prowlus knocked us out.

It was then that we received some help from an unexpected quarter… on the horizon, Prowlus and the rest of the Cheetah village had arrived… it seems that he finally took Hunter up on his offer.

"Follow me!" called Prowlus to his Cheetahs.

"AVALAAAR!" Shouted the Cheetahs as they charged forwards to join the battle.

We were happy to see that we'd gotten some surprise aid, but it was short-lived as another pair of siege towers approached the wall.

After taking one out using my Light Breath, while Spyro and Cynder smashed the other apart with melee attacks, we saw that the battering ram had nearly reached the city gates. The Mole manning the cannon chimed in again.

"We've got a bulls-eye! Spot on!" said the Mole, "With a few more shots, mate, I can destroy it. Help me reload one more time!"

'_Where did the Moles from the burning building get to, anyway? I thought they came up here with us,' _I thought as I hurried over to pull the reloading lever once again.

Unfortunately, we were just a little bit too late… the battering ram reached the gate and slammed straight into them, forcing the gates open. The Mole manning the cannon, however, was still determined to stop the battering ram from getting any further. He angled the cannon as far down as he could, and fired.

An explosion came from the battering ram and it stopped functioning. The Moles we'd freed earlier came out from where ever they'd been hidden, and cheered about the destruction of the ram.

Once again though, the joy was brief, as a large Troll appeared, and started charging towards the now open gates.

"Close the gates! Close the gates!" shouted the Mole manning the cannon, "Don't let it in!"

The Moles down by the gates tried hard to get the gates shut, but the Troll was too strong for them. They were tossed out of the way as the Troll pushed its way into the city. Hunter arrived in the courtyard in front of the gate, and then quickly dodged away as the Troll attempted to crush him beneath its fist.

We hurried down to the area next to the gate, and by the time we arrived, the Moles had managed to close the gate, and seal it by lighting a pair of large braziers that flanked the gate. While this prevented any more enemies from entering the gate for the moment, the Troll was now locked _inside_ the city. It tried to punch Hunter again, but he somersaulted out of the way.

We ran forwards ready to fight the Troll, when suddenly we felt the ground shaking. I realized that this earthquake seemed quite localized… the moles nearby were apparently unaffected by it. Suddenly, a burst of lava erupted from the ground directly beneath the Troll's feet, instantly immolating it.

'_I only know of one dragon that could do that,'_ I thought, smiling.

From a nearby alleyway, a familiar Magma Dragon arrived, followed by several other dragons.

"Gneiss!" I said.

"Jolt, Spyro, Cynder," Gneiss said thoughtfully, "let's see… last time I saw you, it was on the Night of Eternal Darkness… I didn't expect you to take so long to get back to me! Welcome to Warfang anyway… it's not in the best shape at the moment, but it's good enough for now…"

"Hey, what about me?" asked Sparx.

"I missed you too, Sparx," Gneiss said, "it's been too quiet without you".

Our conversation was brought on an end of now when the ground shook once again. The braziers spontaneously went out, and the gates opened a small distance, admitting some Grublins. The Moles rushed forwards, intent on closing the gates once again.

"Okay, alright team," said Sparx, "We've gotta keep those gates closed. So, you keep the gates closed. I'm gonna watch you to make sure that you're okay".

"Nice to see that at least some things remain unchanged," said Gneiss, who then turned to speak with the dragons following him, "Torché, Shale, help those Moles with the gate. Everyone else, work on keeping the Grublins in check".

The dragons that had been following Gneiss ran over to perform their respective tasks, with a fiery red dragonelle and an earthy brown dragon heading towards the gate.

"Spyro, as soon as we get the gate closed again, I want you to relight the brazier on the left, I'll handle the one on the right," said Gneiss.

We then rushed forwards to join the battle, fighting our way through several waves of Grublins and their commanders. With Gneiss and his group assisting us, they didn't last too long before…

"Spyro!" shouted Gneiss, "Now! Light the brazier!"

He did just that, and a line of fiery energy started filling up the channels on either wall. The fire continued down the channels as Torché and Shale held the door shut. Once the fire reached the center of the door, it expanded into what look like a miniature sun, sealing the door against any invaders.

"They're retreating!" said the Mole manning the cannon.

Spyro, Cynder, Gneiss, and I climbed back up to the ramparts, and saw that the Mole was correct. The Dark Armies were fleeing! Above the battle field, we could see several larger dragons raining destruction upon the retreating army. We'd done it… we'd saved Warfang! But still, something seemed… wrong. And apparently I wasn't the only one to notice this.

"This is odd," said Cynder, "Why are they retreating when they were so close to taking the city?"

"Why are they retreating," Said Sparx, poorly imitating Cynder, "Who cares?"

"I feel it too," said Hunter, "Something's not right".

"They're turning around!" said Spyro tensely, "Look!"

From the fiery barrier that surrounded to volcano, a single massive figure emerged. A _very _familiar figure: the golem that had attacked us in the catacombs. I could tell that it was the same one from before since it was still missing its left arm. The Golem released an ear-piercing roar and started walking towards the city.

"Hush little baby… don't say a word," stuttered Sparx in utter terror, "mama's gonna buy you… a big monster wants to kill me…"

The golem then dived into the ground, and started tunneling its way towards the city. It seemed to be headed towards the exact same courtyard where we'd closed the gates not five minutes before!

"It's in the earth beneath us!" shouted Cynder to everyone still in the courtyard, "All of you run! Run!"

Everyone still in the courtyard fled as quickly as they could, and managed to get out of the way just in time: not two seconds after they managed to escape, the golem burst out of the ground once more. It then started using its remaining hand to destroy the city. Shortly into its attack, it somehow caused some of the debris to construct itself a new, larger arm!

Meanwhile, high above the city I could see a group of four dragons… the Guardians! Even from this distance, I could clearly hear Ignitus giving orders to the other Guardians.

"Cyril, the city is burning. Young Tempest and her group will have a difficult time keeping up with the damage. See what you can do about it!" Commanded Ignitus, "Volteer, try to distract its vision. Terrador, Follow me! We'll attack it head on!"

The Guardians then dispersed to fulfill Ignitus' instructions. Hunter turned to speak with us.

"Spyro, Cynder, Jolt, go and find shelter," said Hunter, "Leave us to deal with this".

Hunter then walked away, leaving us to figure out what to do next.

"What are we going to do?" Cynder asked urgently.

"What do you mean 'what are we going to,'" Sparx replied, "Didn't you just hear Hunter?"

"Sparx… since when have we run from danger?" I asked, "Remember, this golem's probably here for us, anyway… why else would the Dark Master send the exact same golem that attacked us earlier?"

"You're right," Said Spyro with determination, "we're not leaving! We can stop this!"

"I'm coming with you," said Gneiss, "Torché, you have command for now. I'm going with Spyro to try and stop that golem!"

"Yes sir," said Torché, "Good luck!"

With that, we hurried after the Golem.

* * *

><p>AN: And there we go! Next time: Take on the Golem! See you then!


	9. Chapter 9: Attack of the Golem

A/N: And here's chapter 9! Let's deal with that Golem, shall we?

Disclaimer: I don't own the Legend of Spyro series, Only my OCs.

And here we Go!

* * *

><p>Chapter 9: Attack of the Golem<p>

Jolt's POV

We rushed down the road, chasing after the Golem. We soon reached a small courtyard. We fought our way through a small group of Grublins and their commanders, Which Gneiss identified as 'Orcs'. Meanwhile, the Golem hadn't noticed us yet, though it was still a threat due to its wildly swinging tail. Once we cleared out the enemies, we hurried over to the left and pushed over a damaged pillar, creating a makeshift bridge. As we started across the bridge, Cyril flew over.

"Spyro! This way, quickly!" Shouted Cyril, "Or ignore me at your own peril. Whatever".

The Golem's tail started swinging randomly towards. Cyril quickly blasted the Golem's tail, slowing it down just enough to let us get past safely. The Golem was understandably perturbed by having its tail frozen. It retaliated by knocking Cyril out of the sky.

We took a brief moment to catch our breath after that close shave. I peered over the edge and saw Cyril recovering from the golem's attack and flying off.

"Is everyone alright?" asked Spyro.

"Yeah," said Gneiss, "but that was too close!"

"I'm fine," I replied.

"Well I'm not alright!" shouted Sparx, sounding panicked, "Didn't you see what happened to Cyril?"

"Yes, he recovered from has fall and flew off," I said.

"He'll be fine!" said Cynder, "Come on! We have to move!"

We continued up the only path we could find, and soon reached another courtyard. As soon as we entered it, the Golem, who still hadn't spotted us, knocked over a nearby structure, sealing us into this courtyard. After we fought off _another_ few waves of enemies, Volteer flew towards us.

"Hold on!" said Volteer, who sounded quite exhausted, "I'll get you out of there".

Volteer then flew off towards the Golem, doing everything could to distract it. Meanwhile more Orcs had appeared, meaning we'd have to fight them off. I decided that this would be a good time to unleash a fury attack. I let my power flow free, and saw that Spyro and Cynder were powering up, as well… as was Gneiss.

As he did so, the crystals set into his armor started glowing. His entire body seemed to become enrobed in molten rock. He then rushed forwards, and any enemy he touched was instantly set aflame. I ran in as well, watching as my foes disintegrated with my every attack. Spyro and Cynder we busy blasting the Orcs apart with streams of Convexity energy. It didn't take long for us to clear out the area… at least until three more Orcs appeared in front of the wooden barricade blocking out path.

However, before these Orcs could do anything, a bolt of electricity shattered the barricade, zapping the Orcs as well. As the dust settled, the Orcs were gone, a set of stairs were revealed, with Volteer standing at the top.

"Volteer!" said Spyro happily.

We hurried towards him, but the Golem took this moment to knock over a nearby building with a swipe of its tail. We quickly dodged as the debris came straight towards us. Luckily, we moved rapidly enough to make it to relative safety. At the same time, Volteer dodged away as well, also escaping the collapse.

We then took another moment to review the situation before moving on.

"It's heading for the upper part of the city!" said Cynder.

"No! Spyro, the majority of the city's inhabitants are sheltered there!" said Gneiss.

"In that case," said Spyro, "we can't let it get any further!"

We then ran into the next area, which happened to be a tall building. As we entered, we discovered we had a major problem: the Golem had spotted us! We knew it was now unavoidable… it was time to stop this Golem.

We quickly ran up the stairs to the building's second floor, where we were level with the Golem's shoulders. We immediately saw a chink in its armor: it had a pair of Dark Crystals on the sides of its neck. The golem began to attack us directly. It attempted to crush under its massive fist, but we dodged out of the way. We then quickly retaliated with a series of melee strikes. With the four of us attacking together, it didn't take too long of the Golem to recoil in pain. It then lowered its head into the gap in the ledge above us, leaving it open to a direct attack. We climbed up the vines on the right wall, rushing over to strike the Dark Crystal on the left side of the Golem's neck. After we struck it a total of about 6 times, the crystal shattered, badly damaging the Golem's jaw it the process. It seems Terrador decided to take advantage of this moment of weakness, as well, as we saw him come diving straight towards the Golem.

"Look out!" shouted Terrador.

He then curled into a ball and started rolling through the sky with an aura of earthen energy trailing behind him. He struck the golem right in the head, punching right through! Terrador then turned around to prepare for another attack run. However, the Golem was ready this time, and blasted Terrador with a jet of fire. Terrador saw the attack coming and managed to change course _just_ in time, barely avoiding being immolated.

The Golem then started climbing up the building, leaving us to follow. After some climbing, and dodging attacks as the Golem attempted, unsuccessfully, to knock us back to the first floor, we reached the building third floor.

Here, the flow of the battle essentially repeated from the previous floor, with the added hazard of the Golem now using breath attacks. As before, we waited until the Golem attempted to crush us, then dodged and counterattacked. Again, after we struck the arm enough times, the Golem was stunned. This time, though, we climbed the vines on the left wall, allowing us to attack the Dark Crystal on the right side of its neck. Once this Dark Crystal was shattered, the Golem's lower jaw broke completely.

The Golem then lost its grip on the side of the building. In recovered quickly, and started up the building once more, now climbing towards the roof. We leapt across the ledges on the outer edge of this floor, coming out on a balcony. Here, we climbed up the vines on the outside of the building, finally reaching the roof. I was glad to see that the roof was completely intact, meaning we couldn't be knocked back down to the lower levels.

As we stepped out into the roof, Ignitus arrived, breathing fire upon the Golem. The top of its head cracked, revealing a large cluster of Dark Crystals within. Ignitus saw this, and immediately Comet Dashed towards the Golem, intent on destroying it. The Golem saw him coming, however, and using its newer hand, swatted Ignitus away like a bug, sending him crashing into a nearby tower. It then turned its focus back to us.

"It's up to us," Spyro said tensely, "If we don't stop it now, it will destroy everything!"

"Alright," said Cynder, "I'm with you".

"So am I," said Gneiss.

"Me too," I said.

"Why," said Sparx, "why do I keep going along with this?"

We stayed near to the center of the building's roof, waiting for our chance. The Golem once again attempted to smash us, now using both hands. We once again repeated our earlier strategy, doing as much damage as possible when it left itself open. Once we did enough damage this time, the Golem started to slip off the building once again. It stopped its fall by grabbing onto the edge of the roof. This however left it wide open for a direct attack on its main weak point on top of its head.

The four of us rushed over and climbed onto the Golems arm, and then started running up towards its head. The Golem responded by trying to shake us off, but we held on tight. As we continued further up its arm, the Golem shook its arm high… a rather poor choice on its part, since it allowed us to use the momentum of the swing to launch ourselves onto its head. We started trying to smash the cluster of Dark Crystal, but we didn't seem to be doing much damage. The Golem foolishly attempted to strike us while we were on its head, and only managed to attack itself. We glided back onto the roof to think about what we should do…

"We don't seem to be doing any damage!" said Cynder.

"While we were up there, I saw that there was a fracture in the crystal," I said, "the only thing is, that the fracture in question is right on top of its head. We'd need a pinpoint strike directly to the fracture point".

"Pinpoint strike, huh," said Gneiss, "Guys, I've got an idea. Keep the Golem's attention. I've got to build up sufficient speed for this…"

Gneiss then took to the skies, spiraling upwards.

"What's he got planned?" Spyro asked.

"No idea," I replied, "I guess we'll find out…"

We went back to attacking the Golem when it left itself open, soon stunning it again. We were getting ready to rush in to attack its head again, when I noticed something, or should I say _someone_ descending rapidly towards the Golem: Gneiss. He was moving As he got closer, he started spinning… not end over end like Terrador had done earlier, but rather he was performing a continuous barrel roll. Then, he simultaneously used Comet Dash and Boulder, creating a Meteor Dash. His spinning motion caused the shell of semi-molten rock to form into a conical spike, aimed right at the Golem's head!

He slammed right into the exact center of the Dark Crystal on the Golem's head. For a moment, it seemed as if the attack hadn't worked, but then I saw that Gneiss hadn't been completely stopped… his drilling attack was allowing him to continue forwards, albeit slowly. Gneiss continued drilling into the Golem's head, and I heard the Crystal starting to crack. Then, all at once, Gneiss burst through the crystal and into the less resistant material of the Golem's body. This meant that he suddenly found himself going straight through the center of the Golem.

The Golem, reacting to the destruction of its main weakness, reared back in pain. This meant that Gneiss came bursting out of the center of its chest. Gneiss slowed down out of his attack, and came into land next to us.

"Wow, Gniess that was impressive," I said, "what technique was that?"

"I call in 'Magma Drill'," Gneiss replied, stumbling slightly, "it's a move I developed on my own. It took me a little while to learn how to do it without making myself too dizzy".

From nearby, we heard the sound of crumbling stone. We looked over to see the Golem breaking up into a lifeless pile of stone. A group of Moles emerged from a nearby doorway and examined the rubble. They seemed amazed that they'd managed to survive the assault.

Then, we heard the sound of flapping wings from behind us. We turned around to see Ignitus, apparently not badly injured by the Golem's attacks.

"Ignitus," said Spyro.

"Young dragon, you never cease to amaze me," said Ignitus.

We heard the sound of someone else arriving. We looked skywards to see Terrador coming into land.

"We never lost hope that you would return," said Terrador, "Ignitus made sure of that".

"I should have come back sooner," said Spyro sadly, "I let you all down. But that won't happen again".

"Spyro, you've done more than anyone could expect of a dragon your age," said Ignitus reassuringly, "What matters now is that you are here and, what's more, you've returned with you companions".

"Well, it's not like I've really had a choice in the matter," said Cynder, "Seeing as how were stuck together".

As Cynder said this, the collars around their necks became visible.

"Interesting… this device is foreign to me," said Ignitus turned to speak with the Mole next to him, "Mason, what do you make of this device?"

The indicated Mole stepped forwards, taking a closer look at the collars.

"Never have I seen such a thing," said Mason, "It has the mark of evil…"

"I agree with you assessment," I said, "originally, I was wearing one of those things as well, but when I used a Light Fury, the build-up of energy caused the collar to shatter. I thought about breaking the other collars as well, but I decided that Spyro and Cynder wouldn't want to get blasted with a fury attack just to get rid of the collars".

"I see," said Ignitus, "those artifacts were likely crafted by the Dark Master itself. I fear we shall not be able to remove it… other than the rather painful method that young Jolt mentioned".

"What?" said Cynder sounding distressed, "But there _HAS _to be a way!"

"How can we fight back if we're made to fight like this?" asked Spyro.

"Spyro, Cynder, you have done well to get this far, despite this," said Ignitus, "Do not view this chain as a hindrance… but allow it to be a reminder of the bond you two share".

As Ignitus said this, the collars faded from view once again.

"Your destinies are now intertwined," continued Ignitus, "And that thought is a hopeful one".

With that, we headed out into the city. We managed to find Tempest, and we finally got a chance to catch up with each other. Tempest and Gneiss told us everything they'd been through during the last three years. It was quite a tale, seeing as they had to take the long way around. Still though, it was good to see them.

* * *

><p>Several hours later, we rejoined the Guardians as they inspected the damage from the most recent battle.<p>

"Momentum has swung to our side, Ignitus," said Terrador, "Perhaps this victory will mark a turning point in the war".

"I'd like to believe that," said Ignitus.

Suddenly, I felt a dark energy building up… right in front of us! A purple aura of energy burst out of the ground… and an extremely warped sounding voice began to speak.

"Citizens of Warfang… congratulations," said the voice, "you shall be the first to witness the resurrection of the Destroyer… and the end of the world".

Within the dark aura, an image resolved: the face of a purple dragon, one much larger than Spyro. Its eyes were solid, glowing yellow aside from its pitch black pupils.

"Malefor," said Ignitus and Gneiss simultaneously.

The ground began to shake violently. It didn't take long to pinpoint the source: the volcanic peak to the west of the city was erupting. From the throat of the volcano, a _MASSIVE _figure emerged. It looked like a significantly larger version of the Golem we'd recently destroyed.

We flew above the ramparts to get a better look.

"By the Ancestors," said Ignitus, "What _IS_ that?"

While we watched the Destroyer begin to march across the land, Malefor continued his speech.

"The Destroyer has commenced its journey to form the ring of annihilation," said Malefor, "At the end of its journey, the Belt of Fire will spread across the surface of the earth in a torrent of fire and ash. There is no escape".

The dark aura then faded away, leaving us to stare at the terrible creature that Malefor had summoned.

"The Destroyer?" said Terrador, "But that's impossible…"

"Ignitus!" said Spyro, "I don't understand".

"Nor do I," said Ignitus, "The ancients believed that this creature brings about the birth of a new world…"

'_Wait for it,'_ I thought.

"See," interrupted Sparx, "that sounds like a good thing".

"…by issuing its destruction," finished Ignitus.

"Oh," said Sparx.

"The beast moves too quickly," said Terrador, "We can't possibly catch up with it. To set out in pursuit would be useless".

"Then we shall wait for it to come back," said Ignitus, "and intercept it before it completes its circle".

Ignitus then lead us to the city's Dragon Temple. He brought us into the library, and pulled out a map. Upon it, we could see the city and its surrounding area. To the south of the volcano, there was a deep river valley. Leading straight from that valley to the city, there appeared to be some sort of subterranean passage... the entrance to a massive set of catacombs. From the condition of the map, it appeared to be quite old.

"We must pass underground if we are to possess the element of surprise," explained Ignitus, "Besides; it is our only hope of getting into position in time without allowing Malefor to know the city has been left unguarded".

"This passage here… it leads through the oldest part of the city," Gneiss said, "and it looks like it would let us out right next along the Destroyer's path!"

We headed out of the Temple once more, making our way towards the lowest section of the city. We soon reached a huge pair of golden doors. Mason stepped forwards to join us.

"These doors were built as an exit to our city, not for going back it," said Mason, "They have to be opened from the inside".

"Spyro, Cynder, we will assemble the troops at the main gates," said Terrador, "We're counting on you to get them open".

"But you must hurry," said Ignitus, "Time is against us…"

"I'm coming too," I said.

"Don't forget me," said Gneiss.

"I shall come as well," said Tempest, she then turned to the male Sea Dragon who'd been following her everywhere, "Maelstrom, stay here and assist the Guardians".

"But princess, my orders are to ensure your safety," said Maelstrom, "I cannot allow you to go into these catacombs alone".

"I won't be going alone, I've got Spyro, Cynder, Gneiss, and Jolt with me," replied Tempest, "Maelstrom, I trust these four with my life".

"I see," said Maelstrom, "Gneiss… of all of you here, I know you've known Princess Tempest the longest. I must request this of you, therefore. Keep her safe".

"You didn't even have to ask, Maelstrom," said Gneiss, "But seeing as it will make you feel better, I vow to not allow anything to befall Tempest".

"Come on guys, we need to get going," said Cynder.

The five of us then climbed into a convenient hole in the wall, into the ancient ruins of Old Warfang.

* * *

><p>AN: And that's it for today. Next time, Into the Old City... See you then!


	10. Chapter 10: The Ruins of Warfang

A/N:Well what do you know? It's time for Chapter 10! It is time to reveal an important plot point for later... specifically for a future story. Remember to pay attention to the mural.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Legend of Spyro series, only my OC's.

Ready? Then Let's go!

* * *

><p>Chapter 10: The Ruins of Warfang<p>

Jolt's POV

The five of us passed through the crumbling tunnel, soon emerging into the subterranean ruins of Old Warfang. We came out just above a long bridge spanning a fathomless chasm. Stretching into the darkness below, we could see structures lining the chasm's walls, along with more sections of the ancient city visible through galleries in the caverns walls. We dropped onto the bridge to see what the needed to do to open the doors. At the end of the bridge leading back into the modern part of the city, there was a cluster of four dragon statues. It appeared they were designed to be holding something.

We saw that in this area, there were four separate routes to take, two on either side. We decided to start on the right side, lower path. Almost as soon as we landed, a large mural on the wall caught our eyes. The mural was damaged by age and possibly vandalism, but it clearly depicted a large purple dragon. It was shown in a pose that said it was prepared for battle. The section of the mural showing whatever this purple dragon was fighting was unfortunately too damaged to make much out… all I could tell was that the enemy in the image sort of resembled a flying squid.

"Spyro" said Cynder, "Look at this".

"Whoa!" said Sparx, sounding surprised, "Whoa, whoa… is that supposed to be you? They're all worshiping you".

"I don't think so Sparx," said Gneiss, "look more carefully… the horns don't match Spyro's".

"That isn't me," Spyro said, "I think it might be Malefor... Look at this place. The ancestors must have trained him here. They had such high hopes…"

"I can confirm that," said Gneiss, "Spyro, Cynder, Jolt… I can't keep this a secret from you any longer. When we dove into the Convexity Portal-lock to save Cynder, I… I saw him. I saw Malefor. He was chained up within the depths of the Portal. He asked me to free him, but before I could… this black mass moved to block my path. This mass then tried to grab me. I backed away from it, and it turned its attention to Malefor. As a moved away, I saw it… infecting Malefor's body… again".

"But, Gneiss... why didn't you tell us before?" asked Spyro.

"Ignitus asked me not to," Gneiss replied, "I'm guessing he didn't want you to risk doing anything rash… seeing as you needed time to recover after the battle. And he probably didn't wish you to become corrupted by this entity, which he told me was the true spirit of the Dark Master".

"But if you had told me we might have been able to prevent all this!" said Spyro.

"Key word 'might'. There's no way to prove that one way or another what would have happened," said Gneiss, "You could have ended up under the Dark Master's control instead, and we'd still be in the same position".

"Which is what nearly happened on the Night of Eternal Darkness," I said.

"Spyro… he's right," said Cynder, "besides, we shouldn't fight amongst ourselves".

I took another look at the mural, and spotted a surprisingly well preserved inscription beneath the image.

"Hey guys, what's this writing?" I asked.

"Writing?" replied Gneiss, "Let me see. Hmm… it's a somewhat obscure dialect of Old Draconic. Bear in mind that I can only provide a rough translation… it says: 'This mural was ordered… no, commissioned, to commemorate our greatest hero, Malefor, who defended us from not only the threats of our own lands, but from ones from places beyond what we ever could have imagined. He protected… no, shielded, us from the attacks of the…'"

"The… what?" asked Tempest.

"I'm… unsure. Either whoever carved this made an error and never bothered fixing it, or I'm translating this wrong," said Gneiss, "Because it seems to say that they were attacked by the… 'Farmer'? But that makes no sense. The most literal translation of this word is 'One who Harvests'. The problem is that I don't have the proper reference to tease out the true meaning. It would also help if we had the full image to look at".

"True enough," Cynder said, "but I guess we should get going… we are running on time limit here".

"Sure, let's get on our way. But why it that one stone sticking out of the wall?" I asked.

"Huh?" said Spyro, "Where?"

"This one, right here," I said, tapping the stone in question with my claw.

I was surprised when a pulse of energy ran across a section of the wall in response to my touch. I was even more surprised when that particular part of the wall suddenly _vanished_, revealing a hidden chamber. Knowing that this was probably important, we stepped into the newly revealed chamber. Inside, there were three treasure chests. One with the symbol for Convexity, one with the symbol for Shadow, and one with a combination of the Symbols of Electricity and Light.

Spyro, Cynder, and I each opened our respective chests. Spyro's contained the final piece of the armor set he'd been collecting. Cynder's contained two pieces of armor, which matched the piece she'd found in Avalar Valley. After observing this I opened the chest intended for me. Inside, I found a complete set of dragon armor. It appeared to be made of steel, with Yellow-white gems set into its surface. Beneath the armor, there was a note.

'_Greetings once again, young dragons. If you are reading this note then you have found the final set of chests containing the armor I left behind for you. The Purple dragon's armor will cause all of its wearer's melee attacks to be infused with the power of Fire. The Black Dragonelle's armor will cause her foes to be doubly damaged… first by her normal attack, followed by a shadowy copy of the previous strike. The Armor of the Bearer of the Charge Crystal will provide an all around power-up to its wearers abilities… it is also said that the Armor has another power that has long sealed away… waiting for the right time to be unleashed. I have no knowledge of what this power may be._

_I wish you good fortune in facing whatever evil the world is facing._

_Signed, A Friend'._

I then slipped my newly found armor on, discovering that it fit _perfectly_. We then stepped back out into the main section of the ruins.

We headed down the path, fighting Ghost Apes as we went this particular path had several main obstacles on it. First, we had to use a drum wheel to lower a platform into place, and then Spyro had to grab one of the heavy stone orbs sitting nearby. Next, Spyro grabbed on to the platform while Cynder pulled. Tempest, Gneiss, and I flew ahead to clear out any foes that popped up. This turned out to have been a good idea since a small group of Ghost Apes popped up, and pulled a lever which extended a blockage across the path. The three of us who weren't busy with moving the platform flew up at took them out, resetting the lever as well.

Once we reached the end of the trail for the platform, Spryo and Cynder disembarked, Spyro still toting the weight.

We continued along the path to the next gap, fighting out way past more Ghost Apes. At this gap we found a set of odd, forked mechanisms. There we four total, with two on either side of the gap.

"What the heck are these things?" asked Cynder.

"I don't know, but they have a red emblem on their bases," said Gneiss, "maybe we should try some specific element on them?"

"Cynder!" I said, "Isn't you fear attack red?"

Cynder's eyes went wide with realization, and then stepped up to the forked device and unleashed a piercing scream at it. In response, the device began to spin. She repeated this for the other fork on this side, causing a bridge to extend… well, half of a bridge at least. Cynder and Spyro then flew over to the opposite side, heading towards the other pair of forks. While they were doing this, I noticed that the forks on this side were begging to slow down. Knowing we didn't have time to stand around, I quickly grabbed the stone orb and started across the bridge, hoping they would activate the second half soon enough.

Their timing was just right, and I made it across the bridge. Gneiss and Tempest flew over quickly to keep up. Just as they arrived, we heard an unknown sound coming from out left, where a stream of magma was flowing by, providing some illumination.

"Do we really have to go back to the surface?" muttered Sparx, "It might be safer down here".

"Yes Sparx, we do have to get back to the surface," said Tempest, "I'm kind of partial to the world the way it is… and I don't wish to see it be swept away in 'a torrent of fire and ash'".

While they were discussing this, I lugged the stone orb over to its slot in the center of the room. When I placed it, the wall right in front of us dropped away, revealing an unusual pinkish crystal. From its shape, it looked like it would fit into the claw of one of the dragon statues up on the main bridge. Before we could grab it, though, we were interrupted by the arrival of a large troll.

It looked like we had a fight on our claws, but instead Tempest and Cynder teamed up to create a massive gust of wind, knocking this beast into the abyss below. We climbed up the steps to where the crystal lay, and Tempest retrieved it. As soon as she did this, a wind current formed just above us, giving us a shortcut back to the main bridge. Once we got back to the locked door on the main bridge, we noticed that the crystal seemed drawn to one of the four statues in particular. As we approached the statue in question, the crystal practically leapt from Tempest's grasp, and locked into place in the statue's claws. The statue then turned to the side, indicating that the first lock was now open. This also had an effect of causing a new air current to appear, leading to the upper ledge on the right side.

* * *

><p>We then turned back to the right side of the bridge again, and this time we flew to the upper path. Up here, we had a different obstacle to deal with: badly cracked stone walls. Actually, these wall barely slowed us down, since Gneiss just Meteor Dashed straight through them.<p>

There was also a wide gap that would have slowed us down… it we hadn't simply flown across it. We soon reached the end of ledge, where the crystal keystone we need to find was sitting out in the open for anyone to grab… which is just what one of the Ghost Apes did. Rather than waste time chasing it down, Cynder and Tempest again provided a simple solution: the both took to the air and started spinning, generating a massive Cyclone.

All of the Ghost Apes were drawn into this attack, along with some loose debris. The end result was that the enemies got pummeled into ectoplasm, and the crystal landed safely on the ground. As soon as Gneiss grabbed it, the wind tunnel reappeared. We flew into it, and rode it back to the main bridge, where we put the crystal into its proper slot.

* * *

><p>Now it was time for us to search the left side of this colossal chamber. Since we had no wind tunnel to ride, we started down the lower left path.<p>

We glided over to this path, landing at the base of a cascading waterfall. Overall, this journey down this path was fairly quiet, with only one wave of Ghost Apes along the way to the final platform. On the final platform, however, there was another Troll for us to do battle with. It seemed that Spyro and Cynder had their Furies ready, and unleashed it upon the Troll. As a result, it fell almost instantly. As the Troll fell, a pair of brazier emerged from the floor. Spyro went over to one, while Gneiss stepped over to the other. They then lit both braziers simultaneously. As a result, the wall blocking us from the key… did not lower. Instead we heard the sound of grinding stone from… behind us?

We turned around to look, and saw that four more braziers had appeared in a circle around a large vine covered section of wall. Spyro and Cynder seemed to have a plan, since they flew off towards it. As we watched from the platform, Cynder gripped onto the vines at the exact center of the wall, while Spyro started swinging back and forth, building up speed. He then burst into a Comet Dash, Lighting all four braziers in a single pass. This lowered the wall, thus allowing access to the key, but also triggered a group of Ghost apes to attack. By the time Spyro and Cynder had gotten back over, we'd already cleared them out. We then stepped over to the crystal key, which I retrieved this time.

As before, as soon as I picked up the key, a wind tunnel appeared; which we then rode back to the main bridge. As soon as we landed, I took the crystal over to its pedestal, causing a new wind tunnel to appear. We then rode it up to the upper left ledge.

* * *

><p>Up here, there was only one rather odd puzzle to solve. There was a huge stone block with a grip point on its underside, and an enormous key attached to its side. Across a nearby gap, there was a matching keyhole. However, separating these two items was a pair of stone blocks. Additionally, on our side of the gap, there was an electrical conduit.<p>

It took me two seconds flat to figure out the solution.

"Spyro, Cynder," I said, "one of you grab onto that huge key, while the other gets ready to pull. I'll charge up the conduit to retract the blocks".

They did so, and together we managed to get the key into its slot, revealing the final crystal key. We flew over to it, expecting an enemy ambush like the last three times. Surprisingly, nothing appeared for us to fight! We were able to step right up to the pedestal and Cynder retrieved the crystal, which caused the return wind tunnel to appear.

We flew into it, returning one last time to the central bridge. We stepped up to the statues once more, and placed the crystal into its proper slot. With that, the doors _finally _swungopen. Sunlight streamed in through the now open door, temporarily blinding us. When our eyes adjusted, we saw the Guardians, Moles, Cheetahs, and the Dragons of Warfang all stepping out onto the bridge. We stepped into line beside them.

"We are getting closer," said Ignitus.

We marched across the bridge in relative silence. However, I could tell that Spyro was feeling tense as he reflected on what we'd learned in these ancient ruins. It seems that Ignitus had picked up on this as well.

"I know what you are thinking, Spyro," said Ignitus, "Have no worry, young dragon. We'll make it".

"I don't understand… Malefor, or should I say the Dark Master, is about to destroy everything!" said Spyro, "But you seem so calm…"

"I don't imagine Malefor would expend all this effort if he did not feel threatened," said Ignitus.

"I agree, it does seem like a rather desperate move," said Gneiss, "it's like he's saying 'if I can't have this world, no one can!'"

"But why should he feel threatened?" asked Spyro.

"Throughout our history, there is only known to have been _TWO _purple dragons. Like Malefor, your powers go far beyond what you might imagine," explained Ignitus, "He knows this. Malefor could have accomplished anything, but through the influence of the Dark Master, he instead chose evil and the world has been spiraling into chaos ever since. Your existence is nature's way of balancing itself".

"But the ancestors thought Malefor was going to be different," said Spyro somberly, "They believed in him. And look what happened…"

"From what we could divine from that mural over there, he was different," I said, "until the Dark Master came along, that is…"

"Mural?" said Ignitus, "where, young dragon?"

"Over there, Ignitus," I said, pointing towards the appropriate ledge, "maybe we can study it later… you know when the world isn't in imminent danger of being annihilated?"

"Ah, yes, of course… anyway, my point is Spyro, that Malefor now draws his power from destruction," said Ignitus, "Destruction is the only way he knows anymore".

"But… Why should I be any different?" asked Spyro.

"Because I know you, and I know that your heart would not allow it. Because I believe you are destined for great things… to bring about a new age," said Ignitus, "an age of peace… and I do not see what role destruction will have in that age…"

"Spyro," said Tempest, "he's right. On our past journeys together, I've seen you are a good dragon, how you chose to help anyone who crossed your path".

"Yeah," said Gneiss, "like in Tall Plains, when you saved the Atlawa despite how Kane treated you… or how about the Manweersmalls within the depths of Boyzitbig?"

"…Or when you saved Cynder in Convexity," I added.

"And don't forget, you worked so hard and traveled halfway across the world to rescue me on the Night of Eternal Darkness," Said Cynder.

"The point is, Spyro," said Gneiss, "we've come this far… we can't let self-doubt consume us now, we need to finish this… together".

At that moment, we reached the end of the bridge.

"Here we are," said Ignitus.

Right in front of us was the exit out of these ancient ruins, and into the canyon where we would ambush the Destroyer.

* * *

><p>AN: And that's it! I kept the reference to the future plot point fairly vauge on purpose... though I'm sure some of my readers will be able to figure out what it is referring to.

Anyway, see you next time... at the Dam!


	11. Chapter 11: The Dam

A/N: Here's Chapter 11! I had a bit of a login issue earlier, but it seems to have been resolved now. Anyway, On with the Chapter!

Discliamer: I don't own the Legend of Spyro series, only my OCs

* * *

><p>Chapter 11: The Dam<p>

Jolt's POV

We emerged from the tunnels and stepped out onto a cliff overlooking the canyon. There didn't appear to be much construction in this canyon, other than the massive dam at one end. From my position, I could see that the reservoir behind the dam was at capacity. If it were to collapse, the entire canyon would flood. In the distance, the Destroyer was approaching quickly, but at this point it was still just a tiny figure in the distance. This of course led Sparx to start pretending to squash it.

"Whoa… Gotcha!" said Sparx, "Gotcha! Err… gotcha, gotcha! Take that! Squishy, squishy…"

"Oh, keep it up Sparx," said Cynder sarcastically, "I think it's working".

"Sparx, cut it out," said Spyro, "Now's not the time".

"It's _NEVER _a good time," said Sparx.

As we watched, the Destroyer took another massive step towards its goal.

"How long until it crosses the belt of fire?" asked Terrador.

"We might have until midday," said Ignitus, "maybe less at that speed".

I looked towards the position of the sun… we didn't have much time… it was only a couple hours until midday. Most of those alongside us were rather uneasy about this revelation. But Cynder wasn't… she Looked towards the Destroyer, then towards the end of the canyon: towards the dam.

"Spyro, how deep do you think that canyon is?" asked Cynder

"I don't know… what are you getting at?" Spyro replied.

Spyro then followed Cynder's stare. Sparx also happen to be floating over there, so he thought they were staring at him.

"What?" said Sparx, "What are you looking at? Do I… do I have something on my… is it on my teeth?"

"Sparx," I said, "they aren't staring at you. Turn around".

He did so, finally taking notice of the massive dam.

"Cynder," said Spyro, "you're a genius!"

"I have my moments," said Cynder.

"Ignitus! Can you stall that monster long enough to allow us to open the flood gate?" Said Spyro, "If we fill up the canyon with water, it may slow it down enough to give us a fighting chance!"

"That may work," said Terrador.

Ignitus nodded in agreement, and then turned to address the rest of the group.

"Listen to me!" Shouted Ignitus, "We must prevent that monster from escaping the canyon… no matter the cost. Every moment counts!"

"You heard the dragon!" Commanded Terrador, "Let's move!"

Ignitus then turn to speak with us once again.

"We will do all we can to give you time," said Ignitus, "The rest is up to you".

"'The rest is up to you'," muttered Sparx, "pss… no pressure or anything".

Our group of five (six counting Sparx) took off towards the dam.

"Let's hope this is enough," whispered Ignitus.

As we approached the dam, we noticed a group of those strange serpent creatures I'd seen back in Avalar were pursuing us.

"Spyro, look out!" yelled Cynder.

"Hmm?" said Gneiss, "great, Wyverns…"

We quickly evaded them, and then examined the controls for the two lower floodgates. We saw that we'd need something heavy to put onto the pressure plates to release the latches on the gate controls.

"Guys, we need some weights to put on these things," I said.

"There should be some in a storeroom nearby," said Gneiss.

We started looking around, and soon spotted the storeroom. It was actually more of an alcove, and the entrance was barred with gate. We could see the weights we needed, along with the control switch for the gate… unfortunately, both were _behind_ the gate.

"Okay… how do we get this gate open?" asked Tempest.

"Allow me to answer that," said Cynder.

She then vanished into the shadows. Cynder's shadow then moved forwards, passing under the gate. Once she reached the far side, Cynder reemerged from the shadows, clawing at the air as she did so. She then stepped over and pulled the lever, opening the gate.

"Good work," said Gniess, "now, let's get that weight".

Gneiss stepped over and lifted the weight, hefting it back towards us. We directed him up the nearby vines. From there it was just a series jumps and wall runs to the first floodgate. Gneiss then placed the weight into the pressure plate. In response, the latch on the floodgate control released, and a group of Wyverns appeared.

""Spyro, Cynder, you focus on opening the floodgate," I said, "We'll handle these beasts".

Cynder gripped the plug, while Spyro started pulling.

Tempest immediately blasted these Wyverns with Polar Gale, freezing them solid in midair. Gniess and I then rushed in and started attacking them. He went high and started raining fire upon our foes, while I came in low and blasted the Wyverns with electricity. Before long, Spyro and Cynder finished pulling the enormous wooden peg that acted as the valve for the floodgate. This also caused the remaining Wyverns to flee… for now at least. The water level started rising, but not by much.

"Let's get started on that second floodgate," said Gneiss, "Based on the current water level, we should be able to reach it from the scaffold on the far left, even while encumbered by one of those weight".

We returned to the storeroom, and this time I grabbed the weight. We took off and flew over to the far side of dam. We soon reached the scaffold in question, to my extreme relief. As heavy as those things feel while simply carrying them, it's much worse trying to _fly _with one. Anyway, from there, we climbed up the vines, and then I jumped with all my might to the left, grabbing another set of vines. At the top of these vines, we leapt to the right, landing on a wooden platform overlooking the second floodgate control. We dropped down, and stepped towards the pressure plate. Spyro and Cynder got into position to pull the control for the floodgate, reversing their earlier strategy.

I dropped the weight onto the pressure plate, releasing the latch and causing the Wyverns to reappear. Spyro and Cynder began pulling the floodgate control. Meanwhile, Gneiss, Tempest, and I essentially repeated our strategy from the previous battle: Tempest froze the Wyverns, while Gneiss and I ran in to attack them directly. Soon enough, Spyro and Cynder finished pulling the second floodgate open.

The water level rose again, but only a short distance, only reaching the level of our current platform.

"It's not enough," said Cynder.

"What else can we do?" asked Spyro.

Cynder looked up towards the top of the dam, seemingly forming a new plan.

"We have to let all the water out," said Cynder, "all at once…"

"No, no… here's what we do," said Sparx, "We have to let _ALL _the water _OUT_, all at _ONCE_…"

We looked at each other, knowing what this meant.

"You with me?" said Sparx, "Let's blow this dam thing up!"

"I cannot believe you just said that," said Gneiss, "Anyway, the control for the main spillway is at the top of the dam".

Meanwhile, we saw that the remaining Wyverns were regrouping at the top of the dam, readying themselves for another attack.

"Uh- oh! Look!" said Cynder, "Reinforcements!"

"I guess they know what we're up to," said Spyro, "We better move".

We flew off of current ledge, and into the central doorway. We tried the just fly up the face of the dam, but the downdrafts over the dam were too strong. We landed on the elevator platform inside the dam, and then span the drum wheel to raise the elevator. Once the elevator reached the top of its track, we climbed up a couple of ledges, reemerging on the face of the dam. Almost immediately, a Grublin Commander appeared. It almost looked like the same one that was leading the Grublins back in the Catacombs.

"Do not resist," Grunted the Grublin Commander, "Your deaths will be swift".

It then called up a pair of Orcs to assault us. We battled our way past this trio of foes and continued our ascent of the dam. The five of us kept climbing towards fighting through several more enemy groups along the way, and collecting another pair of those ridiculously heavy weights.

After some effort, we finally reached the top of the dam. Gneiss and I placed the weights onto the pressure plates, releasing the control for the main spillway.

"Spyro, Cynder, start working on getting the spillway opened," said Gneiss, "we'll hold off the Wyverns. Once the spillway is fully open, get ready to fly fast…"

Spyro and Cynder nodded in response, and then ran towards the large wooden peg that was the spillway control. Gneiss, Tempest, and I kept the Wyverns busy to prevent them from attacking Spyro and Cynder. Tempest started off the battle by whipping up a waterspout, and then released a spherical blast of Ice, flash freezing our foes. Gneiss scraped his tail across the ground in a semicircle, which caused a solid wall of magma to burst out of the stone beneath our foes in a brief fissure eruption. After that cleared, I rushed in and cleared out the stragglers with a few slashes of the Blade of Storm's Fury.

Around this time, Spyro and Cynder finished pulling the floodgate control… but it had stopped one notch away from its proper resting location.

"Guys, its stuck!" shouted Spyro, "Help us by pushing this thing!"

We ran over and started pushing the giant wooden plug towards its resting point. It slowly began to move forwards, and eventually it reached the rest at the end of its path.

At first, it seemed nothing had happened, but then I noticed that the dam was rumbling slightly. Then, the large stone dragon head atop the dam broke off, and the water within the reservoir began to flow out through the ever widening gap. The five of us quickly took to the skies and flew back towards the ledge where we'd set out from. As we flew back down the valley, we got our first close up look at the Destroyer. It was fairly similar to the Golem we'd fought in Warfang, with a couple differences: One, its head was differently shaped. Two, it was _much_ larger than the Golem.

It seems we'd completed our task just in time: Even with the entire forces of Warfang working the distract it; it was nearly clear of the valley! As we approached with the wall of water on our tails, Ignitus called out to those under his command.

"Everyone, take cover!" shouted Ignitus.

The wall of water reached the Destroyer's legs, rapidly cooling them and forcing it to stop. The Destroyer seemed angered by this, and attempted to pull its legs free, but all it succeed in breaking off one of its legs at the knee. The Destroyer was truly stuck.

"Now's our chance!" commander Terrador, "attack the Destroyer!"

Spyro, Cynder, Tempest, Gneiss, and I took that as our queue, and flew straight towards the Destroyer, ready to do what was needed to stop this monster.

* * *

><p>AN: And there we go! next time, Destroying the Destroyer. See you then!


	12. Chapter 12: Destroying the Destroyer

A/N: Here's Chapter 12, Enjoy! Also I would checking out my Deviantarts account (Username: SabLiath) to see the drawings did of Gneiss, Tempest, and Jolt!

Disclaimer: I don't own the Legend of Spyro, only my OCs.

* * *

><p>Chapter 12: Destroying the Destroyer<p>

Jolt's POV

The five of us flew in towards the Destroyer, heading for its side. As we approached, I felt a number of confluences of dark energy… 12 to be exact. All but one were on or near the surface of the Destroyer's body, with the twelfth, particularly large one deep inside its body. We flew towards the nearest target. We landed on the Destroyers arm, near the elbow, and fought off the pair of Orcs that were guarding this first target. I then turned my attention to the Dark Crystal. It shattered with a quick burst of Light energy, and took part of the arm out with it.

We took off again, and flew over to the side of the Destroyer's nearest leg. Around the outside edge of it, we found a ledge with several magma spouts, some healing crystals, one Dark Crystal… and a quite a few Orcs. Needless to say, Gneiss channeled the Magma from the spouts to flow directly at our foes. We then flew up to the higher section of this ledge and took out the second Dark Crystal.

'_Two down… ten to go,' _I thought.

As we took off to find the next Dark crystal, I spotted it across the way, on the underside of the arm we first landed on. We flew straight towards it, dodging the occasional piece of falling debris, and then shattered this third crystal. The fourth and fifth crystals were hidden in a similar manner.

The next crystal required a bit more work to reach, due in part to some strong wind current around the Destroyer's body. To reach this crystal, we first had to climb up some vines to reach a small ledge, then jump and wall-run over to the crystal. Once we got over to it, we smashed the crystal apart. We were now officially halfway to our goal.

Just then, some of the stone that made up the Destroyer's body broke away revealing the next crystal down below our current position.

We glided down to our newest target and were immediately attacked by a pack of Orcs. We beat our way past them, and then took out the crystal. The destruction of this crystal also knocked a rather large chunk off side of the Destroyer's leg, revealing a new path of us to take.

We climbed up this new path, and followed in through a winding tunnel. We soon emerged on the Destroyer's right shoulder. I felt the presence of a Dark crystal… directly above us? I looked up, as saw it was there, directly above a lava flow. I took careful aim, and blasted the Dark crystal away from the relative safety of the ledge, thus bringing our total up to eight.

We then flew up to the next ledge above us, and climbed up a series of grooves in the wall that acted in place of vines. Once we reached to top of this series of ledges, we flew around to the opposite side of this section of the Destroyer, fighting the downdrafts the whole way. We climbed up another series of grooved walls while carefully avoiding the lava spouts, and came upon the ninth crystal. We quickly smashed it before it drained all of our energy. When this crystal shattered, a huge chunk of the Destroyer's body fractured off and fell: right on top the wyverns flying below. This also revealed the path forwards once again.

The next crystal was high up on a 'wall' protected by a series of lava spouts. We wisely decided to just blast it away from a safe distance. Rending this tenth crystal asunder caused yet another piece of the Destroyer's body to break away, yet again revealing the path we needed to take.

We flew upward in a spiraling pattern to reach the top of the Destroyer, which was covered in ruined buildings. Up here, we found the last external Dark crystal on the Destroyer's body. However, to reach it, we first had to battle our way through a small army of Orcs. Luckily for us and unfortunately for them, we all had our fury attack fully charged. Let's just say that they didn't last long against us. We then flew up and took out the eleventh crystal. Breaking this one opened a path to the Destroyer's interior… where our final target awaited.

"Spyro… there's one more Dark crystal powering this beast," I said, "however, it is deep inside the Destroyer".

"We can't stop it from out here," pondered Spyro, "but maybe…"

"Whoa, wait! Wait, wait, wait!" said Sparx, sounding panicked, "You're not thinking about going _IN_ there, are you?"

"Come on Sparx, we're going to need you to lead the way," said Spyro.

"Oh, come on," said Sparx jokingly, "You know I've got your back. I just like complaining. Let's go!"

We continued down the tunnel soon reaching the Destroyer's mouth. Deeper in, we could see the strong wind currents that would swiftly convey us to our goal.

"This is it, Huh?" said Gneiss, "once we enter, fly with caution. This creature is essentially a walking volcano. Watch out for geysers, lava spouts, and rock columns. Also once we take out the last crystal powering this thing, be ready to fly out of there _FAST_, I don't think this thing will react well to having its core shattered".

"Thanks for the warnings," said Spyro, "Okay then, everyone ready? Let's go!"

"Yeah, let's move!" said Cynder.

With that we flew down the Destroyer's throat, and were immediately picked up by the air currents. Thus began our wild ride through the interior of the Destroyer. We wound every which way as passed through a series of tunnels at extreme velocity. We passed in and out of the Destroyer several times and dodged quite a few hazards before reaching the Destroyer's heart… and I literally mean its heart!

"There it is!" shouted Spyro, "Aim for the Crystal!"

We flew in and started bashing away at the stone shell surrounding the immense Dark Crystal that formed the Destroyer's heart. With our combined efforts, along with some timely dodging when the magma below us flared up, we cracked off the first layer of the shell. Suddenly, a new wind current formed and dragged us on another wild ride through the Destroyer's interior chambers, before dumping us back into the heart chamber.

"Just a few more passes!" Spyro shouted.

We flew back over to the heart and, after taking note of the new pattern of the magma burst, we started attack the heart once again. Soon enough, the next part of the heart's shell broke off, sending us on yet another wild ride.

After we got back to the heart chamber once more, we flew in and started bashing away at the third layer of the heart's armor. With our combined efforts, it didn't take too long to shatter it as well, finally exposing the final dark crystal. This time, no air current pulled us away… we were free to smash our last target. I focused my powers, and released a very strong beam of Light energy, completely annihilating the Dark Crystal.

"That should do it!" said Spyro.

We were, however left with a problem… as Gneiss had predicted, the Destroyer's core was suddenly become quite unstable. We had only one option left to us: fly as fast as we could!

"Go go go!" Shouted Gneiss.

And that's just what we did… we flew along as quickly as possible… not having time to pause and check out route. Luckily we managed to choose the correct path, and came bursting back out of the Destroyer mouth… albeit with the lava close on our tails. We then flew over to rejoin Ignitus and the others.

* * *

><p>"For all your subtleties, young dragons," said Ignitus, "You certainly know how to triumph with flare".<p>

"Thanks, Ignitus," said Gneiss.

We looked back towards the now motionless Destroyer, watching steam evaporate from around its body. However, something seemed… off. To be more exact, a sort of ominous energy was hanging in the air… and I apparently wasn't the only one who picked up on it…

"What's happening to it?" asked Spyro.

"I d… I don't know," said Ignitus, "It's most peculiar".

Suddenly, the Destroyer's eyes began to glow with a cracking purple energy. The Destroyer's right arm then began to _MOVE_. It reached out its hand and brought it down on the side of the canyon.

"No!" said Ignitus.

We looked over towards the volcano where the Dark Master kept his lair. More specifically, we looked towards the floating island above the volcano: it was crackling with the same purple energy. The Destroyer them lurched into movement once more, breaking it other leg as it did so.

"This can't be!" said Ignitus.

The Destroyer slowly dragged itself to the side of the canyon. We flew up to a higher ledge to get a better view. The massive creature was still struggling forwards, and then reached out its hand to touch the Belt of Fire. There was a blinding yellow flash which forced us to shield our eyes for a moment. When it cleared, we could see that the Destroyer had passed beyond the Belt of Fire, though it was still only crawling along.

"Ignitus, what do we do?" asked Spyro.

"There is no more that can be done," said Ignitus grimly.

He then turned to address the others.

"Listen to me!" shouted Ignitus, "Not much time is left. Everyone must get to shelter!"

"What about the outlying populations?" asked Cynder.

"Yeah, and there are countless still inside Warfang!" added Tempest, "They need to be warned!"

"The Underground City," said Spyro, "Ignitus, there are endless caves down there. We saw them. We can lead them there!"

"No. I need you and your friends here with me," said Ignitus, "Hunter, send your facons to the outlying regions and tell them to get beneath the surface, as deep as they can. Go! All of you!"

"I know you're up to something, Ignitus," said Terrador, sounding curious, "I've known you for too long".

"Go with the others, Terrador," said Ignitus, "There will be panic and disorder… a strong leader will be needed. I'll find my way back once I get Spyro and the others through the Belt of Fire".

Terrador agreed, and flew off to join the other Guardians.

"We have to confront Malefor, don't we?" said Spyro somberly.

"I see no other way," said Ignitus, "The Belt is weakened, and this may be our only chance to break through".

"Yeah… if we aren't incinerated first," said Cynder sarcastically.

"Oh, come on," said Sparx, "That doesn't sound so bad. We've been through worse… right?"

"Sparx," said Spyro, still somber, "you can't come with us".

"What?" said Sparx, shocked, "But I _ALWAYS _go with you".

"Spyro is right," said Ignitus, "you wouldn't survive in there".

Sparx looked absolutely heartbroken to hear this.

"You need to make sure the others reach the underground city in time," said Spyro.

"Yes, you've been there before," said Gneiss, "you could guide them to safety".

"It's important, Sparx," said Cynder.

"But… you need me!" said Sparx sadly.

"Right now, there are others that need you more," said Spyro.

Sparx still looked displeased with this decision, but he turned to Cynder calmly after considering our remarks.

"Cynder, you have to promise me you will look after him," Sparx said, "We… We've been through a lot together".

"I promise," said Cynder.

"Don't forget us!" said Tempest, "We'll be there for you as well".

We took off towards the Belt of Fire. After a moment, Spyro paused.

"Be careful, Sparx," said Spyro.

"Hey… it's me," said Sparx, "Being careful is all I know".

With that, Spyro flew up to join us once again, as we prepared to push through the Belt of Fire.

* * *

><p>AN: And there we go! Next time... you know what scene is coming up next... I hope you are ready for it.

See you then...


	13. Chapter 13: The Burned Lands

A/N: And here's chapter 13! it's time to cross the Burned Lands... there are only a few chapters left now... And let's begin.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Legend of Spyro, Only my OCs.

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><p>Chapter 13: The Burned Lands<p>

Jolt's POV

It was time: Spyro, Cynder, Ignitus, Gneiss, Tempest, and I were preparing to cross the Belt of Fire. As we approached, the belt continued to blaze intensely. We knew that this wasn't going to be easy.

"I should be able to offer some protection from the heat," said Ignitus, "Stay close to me".

With that Ignitus summoned a shield around our group. We started walking forwards, entering the Belt of Fire. As we passed through, I could feel it raw intensity of the flames surrounding us even with the protection of the shield. Suddenly, Ignitus' shield began to collapse. He tried to form a new one, but it was obvious that he couldn't keep this up much longer.

"Ignitus, let's turn back!" shouted Spyro worriedly, "There's got to be another way!"

"Spyro, Cynder… I've never done right… by either of you," groaned Ignitus in exhaustion, "Allow me to do this…"

"What are you saying?" shouted Spyro,

"Wait," said Gneiss, "let me help you!"

"No, save your energy young Gneiss," said Ignitus, "My path ends here. But yours lies beyond this. Draw strength from each other and follow your heart. It will never fail you…"

Ignitus began to glow brightly… he was putting a massive volume of energy into this act.

"Now, go," shouted Ignitus, "Go… go!"

There was a brilliant flash and the shield, with us still inside was sent flying to the far side of the Belt of Fire… leaving Ignitus behind. Just as I lost sight of him, I'm sure I saw Ignitus flash once more…

We soon landed, now within the Belt of Fire. We all looked back to any trace of Ignitus… but soon reality sank in: He had saved us with his… final act.

"Ignitus," shouted Spyro, absolutely distraught, "Noooooo…!"

"Spyro, stop! It's too late!" said Cynder, "You can't do anything for him now!"

"No," cried Spyro in anguish, "he isn't gone…"

"Spyro… let it go," said Cynder.

Spyro didn't respond immediately, but I could easily tell that his feelings were turning dark… literally. His level of pure anguish allowed him to tap into something that I'd hoped we'd seen last of: his dark form. Dark Spyro levitated skywards, extending the chain connect him to Cynder to its full length.

"Not this," I said quietly, "Not now…"

"No!" said Dark Spyro in a rather distorted voice.

"No!" shouted Cynder, "Spyro, don't!"

"You can't stop me!" replied Dark Spyro.

"You're right, we can't stop you," said Cynder, "Only _YOU_ can do that. Please, Spyro. Don't do this".

There were a couple tense seconds as Cynder's words slowly sank in. Luckly, they were effective. Spyro returned to his normal self, his darker self fading… for now.

"We have to go on," said Cynder, "He wanted us to".

"It wasn't supposed to be like this," said Spyro somberly, I feel so alone".

"You're not alone," said Cynder.

Spyro and Cynder then nuzzled each other in support.

"What do we do now, though?" said Spyro.

"There's only thing we can do: we carry on," said Gneiss, "We need to cross the Burned Lands now… the Destroyer's still moving, and even with the fact that it's moving so slowly now, If we don't get going, we won't make it in time".

And so it was with heavy hearts that we continued into the Burned Lands.

* * *

><p>We descended from the ledge we'd arrived, entering a field of lava geysers. We dodged around them and hopped up to the next ledge, which appeared to have been uplifted by recent tectonic activity. On the far end of this uplifted block, we dropped down into another field of lava spouts. Here, we faced off against a small flock of Grublins... nothing we couldn't handle. However, as we tried to move up the hill to the next area; several walls of rock burst out of the ground, accompanied by a much larger group of enemies, this time including Orcs as well. After we cleared area, the barriers vanished, allowing us to continue. We headed up the slope, passing through another geyser field, until we found ourselves barricaded in again. A group of Orcs leapt from the ground. They didn't get any farther than that, though since Spyro and Cynder released their Fury upon our foes.<p>

Once these Orcs fell, so did the walls trapping us. We prepared to move forwards once again. From here, we could get a clear view of the volcano, and the floating islands above it. As we stood there, we could feel the rumbling of the volcano.

"I don't know if I can go through with this," said Cynder.

"I don't know either," said Spyro, "But we have to. You said it yourself: If we don't, then everything we've fought for… everything we've lost… It's all been for nothing".

"Alright then… I'll go," said Cynder, "But only because I want to get rid of this chain".

"Come on," said Spyro, "The air is too thick down here with all of this ash. There's probably an updraft near the volcano".

"I agree," said Gneiss, "though from the looks of it, the path will only get harder from here on out. We don't really have much choice at this point to continue towards Worldheart Peak".

I thought on his words, and watched as several flocks of Wyverns flew towards the volcano. I then noticed something else: The Charge crystal, the heirloom artifact to the Arc dragons, was reacting to something nearby… more specifically, from the building on the cliffs above us, and I felt that we needed to investigate.

"Guys… I think we should investigate that building on the cliffs above us," I said, "I think… there's something there that I need to find".

"Do you feel it is that important?" asked Tempest, "I don't mean to sound impatient, but we are on a somewhat tight schedule here".

"The Charge Crystal is reacting to something… knowing what these pendants are, it might be something _very _valuable to our journey," I said.

"It's decided then," said Tempest, "we're going to investigate whatever it is you're picking up on".

* * *

><p>The five of us flew up to the small building. The door was already open enough for us to head inside. Within, we noticed that a strange, calming mist was hanging in the air. We descended down a spiral staircase, and at the bottom entered a room that was completely dark except for the single torch in the center. We walked up to the torch, not knowing what to expect. Not knowing what to do, I called out to the surrounding darkness.<p>

"Hello?" I called, "I've come. Who has called me here?"

"_We have, young Jolt,_" replied a voice… a voice Gneiss, Tempest, and I knew well: It was the Elemental Spirits!

"_We have seen what you and your friends are going forth to do,_" continued the Elemental Spirits, "_If you wish for the coming events to have their most beneficial outcome for the world as a whole, you will need to learn a new special ability: the ability to purge corruption from others. However, before you can wield this power… you must prove your worth. Do not worry about the time this takes: time does not pass normally here, when you leave this place, it will be as if only a moment has passed. Are you ready to begin?_"

"I am," I said.

"_Then we shall begin,_" said the Elemental Spirits.

Suddenly, an orb of light emerged from the darkness. It flew forwards and came to hover directly in front of us. It then began to expand, and change: It formed into a large dragon made out of light energy, which was approximately the same size as one of the Guardians.

"Greetings, young Jolt," said the Light dragon, "I am the Elemental Spirit of Light. As I have already said, I have called you here to be trained in a very special technique. But first, show me your more basic techniques".

With that, he summoned some training dummies for me to attack. I went through my basic light elemental attacks: first, Light beam breath, then for the next wave switched to the powerful but draining Lightburst attack. Once I did this, the Elemental Spirit seemed pleased.

"Good show, young dragon, good show," said the Light Spirit, "I have not seen someone with you level of skill with my element for quite some time. I think you are ready, young dragon… it is time to teach you the new ability you were promised. Concentrate now… and accept the knowledge of the Diffusion Purge!"

I felt the knowledge enter my mind… it settled into place easily… as if it always belonged there.

"Congratulations, Jolt," said The Light Spirit, "You are only the third dragon in the history of this realm to wield this power".

"Who were the first two?" I asked.

"The first was the first dragon to ever bear the Charge Crystal… an ancient but direct ancestor of yours," said the Light Spirit, "The second… was the one who you are to soon face: Malefor. As a Purple Dragon, he could wield any elements and powers he wished to learn".

"One last question," I said, "why is your tone so… conversational all of a sudden? Normally when you communicate with us, you seem to be trying to sound mysterious".

"That's because when we, the Elemental Spirits speak together, we all have to come to an agreement on what to say. But when we manifest individually, like I am currently doing, we can allow our individual personalities shine through. Anyway, you and your friends better get going… the world isn't going to save itself".

With that, he vanished, apparently returning to wherever he resided.

Your group headed back upstairs, and stepped outside. I immediately noticed that the Destroyer hadn't seemed to have moved since we entered, meaning that it was true: virtually no time had passed since we entered the structure. We jumped back down to the path to the volcano so we could continue our journey, this small but important detour now complete.

* * *

><p>We soon came upon a river of lava flowing through a canyon right in front of us. This could barely be called an obstacle, since we could simply fly over it. We flew across the canyon and towards the Grublin commander. He attempted to counter our attacks with wild swings of his mace, but through our combined efforts, he soon fell. We then glided down to the next area, which was dominated by a nearly complete ring of stone spires. It was quite obviously a trap, but we had no other way to progress. As soon as we entered the ring, additional spikes burst out of the ground trapping us inside with about ten Grublins and a pair of Grublin Commanders. I decided that this would be a good time to unleash my Fury. The enemies were completely destroyed.<p>

We continued forwards once more, gliding across the gaps in a badly broken bridge. From here, we saw that the route we'd been following was now obstructed. Conveniently the lava river came through this area as well, allowing us to progress upstream. We followed the lava flow to a small, square island. At this point we could clearly see that we were approaching our goal… we just had to get past a few more obstacles first.

We hopped over to the path to the left, heading for the wall we could scale. As we arrived at the base of the main lava fall, we were beset by a small group of Orcs.

After taking care of them, we then weaved our care carefully up the wall maneuvering ourselves between the ever-spewing lava spouts. Up top we fought off a few more pair of Orcs before arriving in front of our current goal. The volcano, Worldheart Peak, was right in front of us… and so was the Destroyer. It was nearly to the base of the volcano. We were desperately short on time. We rushed forwards towards the volcano, only to find ourselves in another trap. This time however, it seems the Dark Master was getting serious about stopping our progress: we were faced with a pair of trolls.

"Alright now I'm sure of it," said Gneiss, "the Dark Master is _definitely _stalling for time!"

We quickly split up dividing our foes' attention. Spyro and Cynder took one, while Gneiss. Tempest and I focused on the other. I quickly discovered a very useful trick: with properly timed bursts of electricity, I could keep the troll in almost constant stun-lock! Spyro picked up on this technique as well, thus making the battle less dangerous.

After we took them out the barriers blocking our progress dropped once more. We could now reach our destination: the Floating Islands far above, where our foe awaited us. We hurried up the slope and leapt into the powerful thermal, which carried us skywards… towards the Dark Master.

* * *

><p>AN: And there we go! Next time... we explore the Floating islands. see you then!


	14. Chapter 14: The Floating Islands

A/N: And here's chapter 14! Shorter chapter, I know, but also a shorter level to write about, On top of the fact that for most of the area, you can simply ignore the enemies. Anyway, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own the Legend of Spyro, only my OCs

* * *

><p>Chapter 14: The Floating Islands<p>

Jolt's POV

Up the thermal carried us rapidly… we spiraled higher and higher, reaching the Floating islands. They were surprisingly beautiful, seeing as they'd literally been torn away from the ground far below. Farther above us was the central island where Malefor awaited us. That island was much less picturesque: It was roughly conical, and looked semi-molten. It was also positioned directly above the throat of the volcano. We came into land in front of a good-sized island with a large door blocking the way into a tower.

"It's beautiful up here," said Cynder.

"This tower… it must lead to Malefor's lair…"

"Thanks for ruining the moment," muttered Cynder.

On the wall above the door, there were eight dragon busts with open mouths, and on either side of the door was a brazier. Spyro and Gneiss lit the braziers, and the first two heads lit up.

'_Two down, six to go,'_ I thought.

* * *

><p>We then took off again, flying clockwise around the islands. The next brazier we reached was blocked by a cluster of Dark Crystals. I used my Light breath to quickly remove that issue, followed by Spyro lighting the brazier.<p>

The next, larger island was a red herring: the fourth brazier was actually on the much smaller island hidden behind it. We flew over and Gneiss lit it, after we got rid of the orc defending it.

To reach the next set of islands, we had to drop some distance, but our next target soon came into view: the fifth brazier was on top of a section of what looked to have once been part of a viaduct. Like the third brazier, this one was also blocked by dark crystals. I disposed of them, and then Spyro lit the brazier.

We searched around the rest of the lower islands, but we'd gotten all the braziers on this tier. Instead, we started upwards again. The next island we reached did have a brazier on it, along with a strange looking device with a glowing orb on top. When we landed, this device shot out a series of spikes which lodged themselves in the ground. The restraint collars the Spyro and Cynder were wearing reacted to these spikes, and the energy chain connecting the collars looped around the spike, holding Spyro and Cynder down. I quickly reacted to this new hazard by breaking the turret that launched the spikes, while Gneiss and Tempest helped Spyro and Cynder take out the orcs that had burst out of the ground. Once we cleared the area and disposed of all the spikes, Gneiss lit the brazier.

From here it was only a short hop over to the next brazier on the adjacent island. Spyro quickly set it alight, bringing out total up to seven.

"I think there's only one left," Gneiss said.

"Let's hurry and find it!" said Spyro.

As it turned out, there was only one island left to check as well. We flew up to this island, which was located in the approximate center of the area, and found the last brazier easily, and Gneiss lit it, opening the doors.

We flew back up towards the island we'd initially landed on, readying ourselves to continue forwards.

* * *

><p>"You know, for <em>literally<em> being our enemy's doorstep, the place seems awfully lightly guarded," said Tempest.

"The Dark Master probably never expected us… or anyone for that matter, to get this far," I said.

We landed in front of the doorway, and stepped into what appeared to be an entrance hall. There were spirit gem clusters everywhere, allowing us to get ourselves in top condition before moving forwards.

"I have to say this," said Gneiss, "if nothing else, Malefor's affable enough to allow us to be on good health before facing him".

After this, Spyro pulled the lever next to the door leading forwards, allowing us into the courtyard beyond. As soon as we entered the courtyard, a troll appeared and tossed several boulders at us, and a large number of Orcs showed up as well. This area was also guarded by a trio of those restraint turrets.

Gneiss, Tempest, and I rushed forwards and took out the restraint turrets since they weren't affected by them. After destroying them, we joined Spyro and Cynder in taking out our foes. It was a fairly lengthy battle overall since more and more orcs kept pouring in. Eventually though, the Troll decided to join the fight: Spyro and I worked to keep it stunned while slipping in a few attacks when we could, while the others did the majority of the damage.

When the Troll finally fell, it shook the ground sufficiently to break out a section of wall, thus opening the path to the final island. We flew up to the hole in the wall, and found a wind current that would carry us upwards towards our final goal: Malefor's Lair.

* * *

><p>AN: And there we go! Next time: our heroes face off against Malefor, the Dark Master's puppet. Only two more chapters remain... I hope your ready for them.


	15. Chapter 15: Malefor's Lair

A/N: It's time for the final battle! let's get to it! I would like to say that Malefor's big villanous speech was the hardest part of this story to write emotionally. I actually found myself having to take breaks to clear my mind while writing that scene.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Legend of Spyro, only my OCs.

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><p>Chapter 15: Malefor's Lair<p>

Jolt's POV

We came in to land just outside the doors to Malefor's throne room. We looked between each other, readying ourselves for what lay ahead.

"It's time," said Gneiss, "It all comes down to this".

"Are you ready for this?" asked Spyro.

"I'm scared," said Cynder somberly.

"Just stay close to me," said Spyro.

"Let's finish this," I said.

With that we pushed open the doors, and entered Malefor's chamber. As soon as we entered, the doors shut behind us. Across the room from us stood a large, purple dragon… Malefor himself. Now that we were actually standing before him, he didn't seem quite as terrifying, possibly since we now had a face to put to his voice. Truthfully, he wasn't that much bigger than the Guardians. The purple color of his scales was stained to a darker shade, and the membrane of his wings was a dirty brownish-orange. He was looking right at us. In his eyes, buried deep beneath the malevolence and corruption, I could see pain and sorrow… just like what we'd seen in Cynder's eyes while she was in her corrupted form! I could also see a pleading look, as if he was trying to tell us not to pay attention to his words. I knew it wouldn't be easy, but it _would_ still be possible to free him.

"At long last," said Malefor, his voice sounding as distorted as it had back in Warfang, "my guests have arrived. Please… come in".

Malefor stepped forwards, and turned slightly to address Spyro,

"Such determination to get here," continued Malefor, "It seems we share other qualities besides that of our color".

'_I don't like where this is going,' _I thought.

"No," Shouted Spyro, I'm nothing like you!"

"Do you think so?" said Malefor, "Hmm… we'll get to that".

"Don't listen to him Spyro," whispered Cynder, "Don't listen to anything he says".

"You look so weary," said Malefor, "Allow me to make you more comfortable".

Suddenly, the restraint collars around Spyro and Cynder's necks appeared and then broke apart. The chain was broken: they had been freed.

"There. That's better, isn't it?" said Malefor, "It's the least I could do for you, Cynder. After all, you've done so much for me".

"You used her!" shouted Spyro defensively.

"I used her. She used you," said Malefor, "What does it matter, really?"

Spyro turned towards Cynder, looking puzzled.

"What does he mean?" asked Spyro.

Cynder didn't respond. Rather, she just stared at the ground regretfully.

"What? He doesn't know?" said Malefor, laughing vilely, "Go on, tell him! You mustn't leave him in the dark…"

"Tell me what?" asked Spyro cautiously.

"How she lured you to the Well of Souls," said Malefor, "how she tricked you into freeing me".

"You're lying!" replied Cynder quickly... almost too quickly…

'_No,'_ I thought_ 'we can't keep listening to the Dark Master's lies. He's just trying to get into our heads'._

"Hmm… I find it peculiar… how you've chosen to remember things," said Malefor deviously, "Let me assure you. It was you who freed me, Spyro. And you who brought me back. And we have Cynder to thank for that.

Malefor then broke into a sustained evil laugh.

"Cynder?" said Spyro, sounding worried, "Is it true?"

"No… I don't know," said Cynder, nearly in tears, "I don't know anymore".

"Oh, I think you do," said Malefor, "But perhaps you need a little nudge…"

Malefor's eyes suddenly blazed an eerie yellow color. Cynder suddenly writhed as Malefor's attack hit her. She was over taken by a burst of dark power. She stood up again, transformed into her darker self.

"Cynder!" shouted Spyro, distraught.

"Hahahahahahahaha!" laughed Malefor sinisterly.

Dark Cynder glared towards Spyro and started towards him.

Gniess, Tempest, and I tried to run over to help Spyro, but discovered that Malefor had caused the ground to encompass our feet, preventing us from moving.

"You shall not interfere!" shouted Malefor.

We could do nothing but watch as Cynder began to attack Spyro.

"Cynder!" yelled Spyro, panicked, "No!"

"Ignitus should have warned you," said Malefor, "You are alone here, _young dragon_. You have _ALWAYS_ been alone. Still, here you are… trying so desperately to save this miserable world… refusing to accept the _true role_ of the purple dragon".

Around this time, Cynder tackled Spyro to the floor.

"I'm sure you've been told that I was the first of our kind… but I assure you, there have been many," continued Malefor, "It has been the duty of our predecessors to resurrect the Destroyer and the Golems of the Deep… to bring about the great cleansing. This is the true nature of our kind. Your destiny is to destroy the world!"

At this time, Cynder struck Spyro again, this time sending him skidding across the floor.

"No!" shouted Spyro, pounding his forepaw against the floor, "I don't believe that!"

"Of course you don't," Said Malefor, "But you have fulfilled your destiny nonetheless. In my time, I was stopped… prevented from completing my quest. But you… you have carried the flame… be it through your own will or not. And soon, the world will be destroyed, you along with it…"

"No," said Spyro, utterly distraught.

Cynder approached Spyro once again, and knocked him to the floor once again. She then stared directly at him.

"Fight back!" shouted Dark Cynder.

Spyro didn't fight back. Instead he just stood there, blocking her attacks.

"Hahahahahahahaha!" laughed Malefor sadistically.

Cynder continued her assault on Spyro, and yet he didn't retaliate.

"Fight back!" shouted Dark Cynder, "Why won't you fight back?"

"Because you've left me nothing to fight for," said Spyro, sounding like he'd lost every last shred of hope.

This final, heartfelt statement had did it: Cynder returned to her normal state, the Dark Master's hold over her shattered.

"There's always something," said Cynder.

This also distracted Malefor from holding us down, we quickly moved to stand at Spyro and Cynder's side.

"Malefor… Dark Master… whatever name you go by now," said Gneiss, "we will not run from you. We will not let our spirits be broken by you lies".

"We fight for our lands, for our people," said Tempest, "for those we have left, and for those we've lost… their sacrifices shall not be in vain".

"We shall stop you Dark Master," I said, "we shall not fail. Your reign of terror ends today!"

Spyro smiled at our presence, Cynder's in particular, His confidence was restored, however…

"Argh! So be it!" roared Malefor, "You've made your choice and so you shall suffer the same fate!"

With that, the restraint collars reappeared, binding Spyro and Cynder together again.

"Prepare to die!" roared Malefor.

Malefor then took to the skies, beckoning us to follow. We prepared to follow, but there was one thing to do first.

"Spyro," said Gneiss, "remember that special technique we use back in Convexity? I think it's time we use it again".

"You mean the energy form?" asked Spyro, "Wasn't that really unstable and extremely draining?"

"It was then, but Tempest and I took the time to further research our abilities," said Gneiss, "and found that it was so unstable since we didn't have a proper balance of elements: we were missing the darker elements: Shadow, Fear, and Poison".

"Wait… you mean," I said.

"Yes… to properly balance the power, we need your and Cynder's aid," said Tempest.

"Well… okay," said Cynder, "if you think it will help".

"We do," said Gneiss, "Come, stand close to us".

* * *

><p>We gathered into a small circle, and Gneiss, Tempest, and I raised our pendants together. We focused our powers, and combined the energies of the Crystal of Molten Earth, the Ocean Crystal, and the Charge Crystal, unleashing the might of the Avatar of the Ancestors once more.<p>

The raw power lifted us skywards as a group, and we were sent flying after Malefor and the energy continued to form around us. We caught up to him just as the Avatar of the Ancestors finished forming. From within the energy form, I heard Spyro and Cynder exchanging words.

"You with me?" said Spyro.

"I'm with you," replied Cynder.

We flew towards Malefor, dodging away from his attacks as we went. We soon reached our foe, and began attacking him. Together, we swiped at Malefor with our energy form's claws, and then grappled with him in a contest of raw strength. He was strong, but the five of us together, supercharged by the power of the elemental fragments, were stronger. With a mighty shove, we pushed ourselves free, and then released a blast of Light and Shadow at the same time. The energies combined, and rather than explode violently, these opposing elements combined into a massively powerful attack. As a result, Malefor was severely weakened.

"Now's our chance!" said Spyro.

We dashed towards Malefor once again, ready to take him down. However, Malefor wasn't done quite yet. As we approached, Malefor attempted to swipe at us, twice. We dodged out of the way both times, and then countered by ramming him straight in the chest.

* * *

><p>We returned to a hover after we performed that powerful strike, ready for what Malefor would throw at us next. However, he seemed more focused on what was occurring far below our battle. We looked down to see what he was looking at and saw something terrible: The Destroyer had reached Worldheart Peak. We knew we had no way of reaching it before it entered the volcano.<p>

We were out of time.

"Oh no!" said Spyro, panicked, "We're too late!"

"Welcome to the end of the world!" roared Malefor victoriously.

We could do nothing but watch as the Destroyer climbed into the throat of the volcano. Once it did, the volcano erupted violently, releasing a blast of lava and ash that could probably be seen from orbit. The column of molten rock struck Malefor's lair directly, destroying it.

'_That was poor planning on his part,'_ I thought.

Malefor flew back toward his now demolished lair, with us in pursuit. At the same time, the power from volcano began to spread across the world, following the edges of the world's tectonic plates. We caught up to Malefor in the ruins of his throne room, which was now falling towards the ground below. Malefor approached us again, ready from round two.

We approached him, pushing our way past his attacks, stone blocks from the floor, and pieces of debris from the volcano itself. We reached Malefor, and began our assault once again. We swiped him with our claws, tail-blade, and horns. He attempted to retaliate, but we quickly dodged away and blasted him with the full power of elements. Before too long, he was severely weakened once again, but he still found the energy to strike at us again.

"Watch out!" said Spyro.

We quickly ducked as Malefor swiped at us, then leapt into the air as he swiped low. At this moment we felt our fury energy reach capacity. We quickly curled into a ball, charged up our fury, and slammed directly into Malefor's back. As we recovered from our attack, the remnants of Malefor's lair plunged into the volcano. We grabbed onto what was left of the floor, preparing for whatever was coming next.

* * *

><p>We didn't have to wait long: Malefor came back around for another round. This time, he established a shield of convexity energy preventing us from striking him directly. We didn't let that discourage us though; we flew towards him, repeatedly striking his shield. Every time we hit it, we absorbed some energy from the shield, quickly refilling our fury energy. As soon as our energy reached capacity, we unleashed our fury, punching straight through the shield. Our beam of hyper-charged Convexity energy took Malefor down for the third time.<p>

We blasted Malefor with another powerful beam of Convexity, and then charged straight at him. Our attack caused a massive burst of light, and when it cleared, we found that the floor was completely gone and we were falling into the depths of the volcano.

Malefor was nowhere to be seen… that is, until he flew up behind us and slammed us into the wall, breaking our energy form apart. As he ground us against the wall, we pushed against Malefor with all of our might. With our combined strength, we managed to push him off of us. We felt that our fury energy was still at capacity, and unleashed it one final charge straight into his chest, roaring as we went, with Malefor joining in with a roar of pain.

Down and down we went, eventually reaching a massive purple crystal: the very bottom of the volcano, the fabled Heart of the World. All around us, we saw the magma roiling away. We landed on the surface of the crystal, and Malefor landed across from us. Despite everything we'd thrown at him, all the energy we'd expended, Malefor still wasn't finished.

"You cannot defeat me!" screamed Malefor, "I am eternal!"

With that, Malefor unleashed a beam of Convexity straight at us. Spyro and Cynder retaliated with Convexity blasts of their own, while Gneiss breathed out the strongest blast of Magma I'd ever seen him use, Tempest summoned all three of her elements simultaneously, creating a powerful, freezing cold, gale force rainstorm. I focused my elements as well, adding my own power to the mix. The beams met exactly halfway between us, balancing for the moment.

"Just… hang… on!" said Spyro through his attack.

We focused ourselves even more, pushing our powers to their absolute limit. Suddenly, Malefor's eyes took on a look of shock as our combined attacks overpowered his own, blasting him across the floor.

I then heard a whisper on the wind.

"_The time has come, young Jolt," _said the Elemental Spirits, _"Use the Diffusion Purge, free Malefor from the Dark Master's hold!"_

I readied myself to do just that. I focused my energy on the special attack that the Light Spirit had passed on to me. I felt myself lifting up as if I was using a fury attack, I felt the energy of the Diffusion Purge building up, and channeling through every fiber of my being, and building up in the crystals embedded in my armor as well. I then began to release it. It started out as a thin beam of light, and then expanded wider and wider to encompass Malefor's entire body. He dug his claws into the surface of the crystal, and I saw something strange occurring: It was almost like there was a double image, like a shadowy copy of Malefor was overlaid on top of him body.

Suddenly, this shadow was forced loose, and was sent flying back and landing on the exact center of the crystal. The shadow hovered into the air preparing to come at us. Suddenly, a group of spirits burst from the ground. They were all shaped like dragons, several of which were purple in color while the rest were in every other color in the spectrum. I somehow knew exactly what we were seeing: it was the Elemental Spirits and the Spirits of the Ancestors, coming together to seal away the Dark Master.

"WHAT IS THIS!" shouted the Dark Master, in an extremely distorted, multi-tonal voice.

The Spirits then flew in towards the Dark Master, quickly encompassing it.

"NOOOOOO!" screamed the Dark Master.

Together, the spirits pulled the Dark Master into the crystal, hopefully locking him away forever. As the spirits drew the Dark Master into the crystal, It repeatedly changed in shape, from a dragon, to a cheetah, to a squid… or possibly a giant claw? A moment later the restraint collars around Spyro and Cynder's necks dissolved away. But we weren't quite finished yet. The crystal beneath our feet began to rumble, and suddenly a massive pulse of Convexity energy burst out of the crystal, ripping through the surrounding rock. It didn't stop there, though, as the entire planet began to be ripped apart! We stood there on the surface of the crystal, not sure what to do.

"Spyro, I'm sorry," said Cynder with regret, "I'm so sorry".

"Don't be," said Spyro, "It's over now".

"So this is it?" asked Cynder.

"I… I don't know," said Gneiss, "I just don't know what else we can to".

We watched as the world broke apart around us… was this truly it? Had we… failed?

'_No,' _I thought, _'we've come so far… fought so hard… given everything we could to save the world. We can't give up now!'_

It was then that I heard a voice I'd thought I'd never hear again: Ignitus.

"_Spyro_," said Ignitus, "_when a dragon die, he does not truly leave this world. His spirit lives on, binding itself with nature, offering hope for the future…_"

Spyro obviously heard this as well, as he now had a look of determination on his face.

"I know what I need to do," said Spyro, "Just get out of here, guys".

"Spyro, no," said Cynder, "you don't have to do anything. Let's just go!"

"Where, Cynder?" asked Spyro, "There'll be nothing left! The world is breaking apart! But, I think I can stop it. I think I'm meant to".

Cynder paused for a long moment as she absorbed his words.

"Then I'm with you," said Cynder.

Gneiss looked over at Tempest and I, and came to a decision.

"The three of us are you as well," said Tempest.

Spyro looked at us with a hopeful expression, and then hovered into the air, concentrating every last ounce of his strength into what might be his… final act. The energy began to expand in a massive sphere, but… with all he'd expended on the previous battle; he just didn't have enough energy left. I knew what we had to do now.

"Gneiss, Tempest," I said, "we need to help him, we need to give this our all… everyone is counting on us to do this".

The three of us focused our power on magnifying the power Spyro's act. It certainly helped, but we were still short of having enough. Cynder saw this, and leapt in to add her power to the mix as well… and yet it was still just not enough.

We were at our limit… we just didn't have enough power left in our bodies to heal the world.

"Don't… leave me out of this, young dragons," said a deep but clear voice I didn't recognize, "If this is the end… then let me die… a hero".

I glanced over towards the source, and was someone who I didn't expect to have recovered yet: Malefor! He shakily got feet, and slowly stepped over to join us. He focused his power as well, and added it to our own. This did it… it pushed us over the limit to allow us to do it. The sphere of energy collapsed slightly and then burst outwards at high speed. The raw amount of energy we were expending was causing me to lose consciousness. Just before I blacked out, I heard one last thing.

"Spyro, I love you," whispered Cynder.

My mind faded from normal consciousness, but in my mind's eye, I could see the wave of power we'd collectively generated expanding outwards at an exponential rate. I watched as the wave of power flow outwards, through the rock of the planet, past the surface, and nearly to the celestial moons. There it stabilized, and I watched as the shattered fragments of our world slowed down their progress, and then reversed their course, reassembling like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Then this vision faded as well, and all I could see was complete darkness…

* * *

><p><span>Elsewhere<span>

Torché's POV

I was standing with the Guardians and that talkative dragonfly, Sparx. We couldn't tell much from down here in the catacombs of Old Warfang, but I could just _tell_ that things were going very bad for the world. This became completely apparent when the ground beneath our feet started shifting violently, as if it was flying off into space. Suddenly, an omni-colored wave of energy flowed through everything, and the ground then shifted in the opposite direction.

"What in Ancestor's name is going on?" I asked.

"I do not know, young Torché," said Terrador, "but it may be worth investigating… Guardians, with me!"

"I shall come as well," said Hunter.

"As will I," I said.

"Hey, don't forget me!" said Sparx.

Terrador looked towards us and nodded.

"Very well," said Terrador, "let's go".

We stepped went back up to the main viaduct that crossed through the old city. We headed towards the doors that lead towards the canyon where Spyro and his friends had fought the Destroyer. We stepped out onto the ledge outside the door and were amazed at what we saw: The world had literally been shattered apart! But as we watched, the shards of the world slowly descended, the world was being pulled back together. It was dusk, and in the skies, there was a new constellation: a beautiful constellation of a dragon, its wings spread wide and its head held high. I somehow knew that his was a symbol that it was finally over… the world was saved… but at what cost, I just didn't know.

* * *

><p>AN: And there we go! only one chapter remains now: the finale! See you then!


	16. Chapter 16: Dawn Over a new World

A/N: And here it is: the final chapter of The Legend of the Three: Dawn of thr Dragon. I took this chapter to wrap up most of the plot points I'd introduced. Let's get to it! And yes, the Chapter title is a Dragonforce reference.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Legend of Spyro or Dragonforce, I only own my OCs

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><p>Chapter 16: Dawn Over a New World<p>

The White Isle

3rd Person POV

The Chronicler stood in his library, looking through the thick tome containing the events of this age. He was just finishing up the final page. From his left, he heard the sound of a quiet breeze.

"Be welcome, friend," said the Chronicler, glancing to his left, "I have long been expecting you…"

The Chronicler turned back to the book, reviewing the last few images among the pages: the world in pieces, Warfang being rebuilt, and the three remaining Guardians standing together, with Sparx floating overhead.

"A new age is beginning," continued the Chronicler, "With each new age, a worthy dragon is chosen to chronicle the many triumphs and failures of that age. This has been my duty for millennia. And now, Ignitus, I pass this honor to you".

From the shadows, Ignitus stepped forwards towards the Chronicler.

"And… what of Spyro and his friends?" asked Ignitus, "Are they…"

"Hmm, that is the question isn't it?" said the Chronicler.

He then put the book he'd just finished working on away, and pulled out a different one.

"You see," continued the Chronicler, "each time a dragon dies, a new page is written in this book. I've done my best, but I can't seem to find any trace of Spyro or his companions…"

With those final words, the Chronicler flashed pure white and vanished. At the same time, Ignitus was undergoing a change as well: his scales shifted from brilliant, fiery red to slate blue, just like the former Chronicler, and also acquired all of the Chronicler's outfit. He then stepped forwards to examine the books of time for himself.

"Well, young dragons… where might you be?" wondered Ignitus, now remade as the new Chronicler.

* * *

><p><span>Meanwhile<span>

Avalar Valley

Jolt's POV

I don't know how… but we'd survived.

We regained consciousness in the Valley of Avalar… all six of us.

That's right, I said six. However… whatever brought us back to the surface intact, Malefor had been brought with us. The very fact that we were sitting here right now meant that we had, in fact, succeeded. The world had been healed, but the scars of its near obliteration would likely not heal any time soon. As soon as we'd recover from our massive expenditure of energy to repair the planet, we felt the urge to fly… just take to the skies and feel free. After the rest of us came into land again, Spyro and Cynder kept flying for a short while longer, eventually coming to hover in the air, staring into each other's eyes, and forming a heart shape with their bodies.

After that though, we set up a camp for the night. Spyro still seemed troubled by what he'd been told by the Dark Master.

"Malefor," said Spyro, "I have to know… was what you said while under the Dark Master's control true? Were there other purple dragons before you? And did they truly destroy the world?"

"As far as I know it was a complete lie," said Malefor, "I certainly don't remember hearing of any purple dragons before myself".

As Malefor spoke, I noticed that his voice had lost that weird multi-tonal quality.

"Spyro, while we were on the White Isle during the Night of Eternal Darkness, the Chronicler gave us the opportunity to read some of his library. After that, once we arrived in Warfang, I checked the archives of the city library as well. The records were clear: there are only records of the existence of two purple dragons, you, and Malefor".

"What we do now?" asked Cynder.

"We should return to Warfang," said Gneiss, "with any luck, it will be reasonably intact. The Guardians are there… at least the remaining three".

"That's a good idea," said Tempest, "but we should only send part of our group to the city… we need to let the Guardians know what has happened… all of it".

"True, if you showed up with me following you, it might cause problems," said Malefor.

"Gneiss," said Spyro, "You take Tempest and Jolt back to Warfang. Speak to Guardians. Tell them everything".

The next morning, Gneiss, Tempest, and I set out in the direction of Warfang. Before too long, the city came in to view. It wasn't too much worse than we'd left it, overall… it seems that all of Warfang was on single fragment of planet. It would clearly need some work to bring it back to its former glory, but it could be done. We flew straight over the city wall and were soon met by Terrador.

"Young dragons!" said Terrador, "You've returned… but where are Spyro, Cynder, and Ignitus?"

"Spyro and Cyner are back in Avalar Valley, resting," I said, "Ignitus… didn't make it. He… gave his very life to get us through the Belt of Fire".

"I see," said Terrador, "I suspected as much. He was a good friend, and he shall be sorely missed".

"There's something else well," said Gneiss, "When we woke up on the surface after healing the world, we had one more with us than we expected".

"Something tells me I won't exactly like this," said Terrador.

"We arrived back on the world's surface in Avalar Valley… with Malefor in tow".

"_What!_" shouted Terrador, "How? Why?"

"That will require quite a bit of explanation," I said, "maybe we should have the other Guardians join us so that we don't have to tell this tale several times?"

"Of course," said Terrador, "Follow me to the Temple".

We did just that, then went inside and saw Cyril and Volteer gathered around the pool of visions.

"Ah! Young Gneiss and his friends," said Cyril, "you've returned. Where are the others? What transpired at the Heart of the World?"

"That… is a long story," I said, and then related everything that had occurred since we entered the Belt of Fire. From Ignitus' sacrifice, to my encounter with the Elemental Spirit of Light, to when we arrived in Malefor's lair, and our lengthy battle there and within the depths of the volcano, to when I used the special technique that I'd been taught to force the Dark Master out of Malefor's body, to when we all, Malefor included, pooled our powers to heal the world from the Dark Master's final spiteful attack.

A while later, our tale drew to a close; and we waited for the Guardians reaction.

"That… is quite a lot to take in young dragons," said Cyril.

"Yes it is quite intriguing, amazing, incredible, er… um… ah," rambled Volteer.

"Indeed," said Terrador, "this will require more investigation. Cyril, Volteer, keep watch over the city. I will return to Avalar with Gniess, Tempest, and Jolt to confirm what they have told us for myself".

With that, we left the temple and flew back to Avalar Valley with Terrador behind us, heading back to our campsite. We landed, and found Spyro, Cynder, and Malefor waiting for us.

"Terrador!" said Spyro, "It's good to see you're okay".

"I could say the same to you, young Spyro," said Terrador, "and you as well Cynder. As for our Malefor, I need to decide what to do about that".

"I shall answer any questions you have for me, Guardian Terrador," said Malefor, "And accept any judgment you hand down".

"Thank you for understanding," said Terrador, "What do you remember from your time under the Dark Master's control?"

"I unfortunately remember everything from that time," said Malefor, "I was forced to watch helplessly as my body did all those terrible things. I remember when the Guardians of my time sealed me and the Dark Master within the Convexity portal. I remember when the portal was reopened, and Gneiss found me… and promised to save one day. I remember when the Night of Eternal Darkness came, and the Dark Master fled the Convexity portal, and tried to possess Spyro. I remember when the Dark Master came back, his attempts to take over Spyro having been repelled. I also remember these last three years. I remember every last bit of pain I caused the world. I wish I could have been stronger… strong enough to resist the Dark Master's manipulations".

"You can't do anything to change the past," I said, "you can only work towards a better future".

"That is quite wise, Jolt," said Malefor.

"Thank you," I said, "it was one of the first things Ignitus taught me, and one of his most lasting lessons".

"I see… so, what happens now?" asked Malefor, "What will you do with me?"

"We have to bring you in for a trial," said Terrador, "but from what I have heard, we shall make sure that the outcome is completely fair. We will allow the testimony of Spyro and his friends in you defense. However, for now, certain procedures need to be followed".

"I understand," said Malefor, "Do what you need to do, I won't fight back".

"Thank you for that," said Terrador, "Malefor, you are under arrest for crimes against the world. You will be escorted to Warfang for your trial".

Terrador then formed a set of manacles out of rock, and secured them around Malefor's legs.

"Spyro, you and Cynder fly ahead to the city and inform the guards of our approach," said Terrador, "Gneiss, Tempest, and Jolt: you fly with me and Malefor".

We then took to the air, and started flying back to the city. As soon as we arrived, the trial was quickly organized in the main hall of the temple. The Guardians acted as the judges, a pair of Moles were brought in to act as attorneys; and Spyro, Cynder, Gneiss, Tempest, and I were brought in to act as witnesses.

The events of the trial were lengthy and full of intense deliberation. Malefor pleaded his case, and showed his utter remorse for the terrible actions he'd done. Spyro, Cynder, Gneiss, Tempest, and I gave our testimony, including Spyro mentioning the fact that he'd had first-hand experience with the Dark Master's manipulations as well. In the end, Malefor was acquitted of all charges. It was decided that they could not punish someone for act performed while under mind control. There was also the fact that if they decided to punish Malefor, they'd have to punish Cynder in the same manner.

That was the official decision at least, but the people's personal opinions would take longer to change. Once the verdict came through, Malefor decided it would be best if he left the city, and headed off to live somewhere quiet.

It was now time to rest and begin rebuilding.

* * *

><p><span>1 Month Later<span>

Jolt's POV

Things have finally quieted down. After spending a short time helping out in Warfang, Gniess and Tempest returned to their homes, getting them ready for their people's return from the relative safety of both Warfang and the Shattered Vale. The Dark Armies were no longer an issue… as soon as the Dark Master was sealed away, its forces had vanished. Spyro, Cynder, and Sparx had gone off to visit Spyro's foster parents in the Silver River Swamplands, to tell them everything he'd been through in the last three years, and had come back in a good mood. Spyro and Cynder had more recently gone off to visit with Malefor, in his new home in a comfortable cave on a small island near Dante's Freezer. I understood why they went to go this: they were the only other dragons in the world that had experience with what Malefor had gone through.

The Guardians had held a memorial service in honor of Ignitus and the rest of the fallen. They had also held a series of tryouts to fill the now vacant position of Guardian of Fire. After all the events of the tryouts were held, they came to their decision: the new Guardian would be a dragonelle named Torché. Terrador had also been elected as the lead Guardian.

It was time for me head out as well… I needed to return to Concurrent Skies, and start working on the restoration of that region for my people's return. The Guardians had pledged their aid in the restoration of the damage caused by the war, as had both the Moles and the Cheetahs.

I flew to Concurrent Skies with the first few members of the aid group close behind, along with Volteer. We soon arrived at our destination: everything here was just as I'd last seen it. That is to say a complete mess… we knew that it would take quite a lot of work to bring this place back to its former state. But this time, however, it was getting late. We set up a camp and lay down to rest for the evening. As I slept, I slipped into a strangely familiar dream…

* * *

><p>In the dream, I found myself in the Chronicler's library on the White Isle. I wasn't alone, either: Spyro, Cynder, Gneiss, and Tempest were here as well!<p>

"We're back here?" asked Gneiss, "What for? I hope this doesn't mean we're for _more _conflict".

"Don't worry about that, young dragon," said a familiar voice… a voice of someone who I thought was gone.

'_It can't be,' _I thought, _'can it?'_

Out from the shadows stepped the Chronicler… except that it wasn't, not exactly. He looked different that we'd last seem him, but there was no doubt: It was Ignitus!

"I-Ignitus?" stuttered Spyro, "how?"

"The Chronicler you met previously has passed from this world," said Ignitus, "as his final act as Chronicler, he chose his successor: me. It will be my new role in life to chronicle the events of this new age".

"But… why have you called us here?" asked Tempest, "and why didn't you contact us sooner?"

"I shall answer your second question first: I needed to take some time to settle into my new role," said Ignitus, "As for why I called you here? I didn't really need to have a reason to other than to see you once again, and to thank you for the great service you have done for the world".

"In that case, you're welcome, Ignitus," said Spyro.

"Well then, young dragons," said Ignitus, "I think it is time for you to wake up, and continue your lives. We can only hope for a peaceful future. Goodbye for now young dragons, but remember I shall always be here, watching over the world, watching for events to come".

The dream then faded away…

* * *

><p>The next morning, I informed Volteer about my dream.<p>

"This-this is incredible, amazing, stupendous!" said Volteer, "Ignitus lives on as the new Chronicler! When I get back to Warfang, I shall have to inform the other Guardians of this!"

"That may be unnecessary," I said, "Remember, Torché had gone with Gniess to the Kaskia Isles, so it is likely they're having the exact same conversation at the moment, though Cyril and Terrador will likely be happy to hear that their old friend is alive".

"Yes of course," said Volteer, "let's finish our survey for now, and then we can discuss our further plans".

We did just that. We performed a complete survey of Concurrent Skies, and worked out that it would take _years _to bring this region back to its pre-war state. With this information gathered, Volteer took flight back to Warfang to report our findings to Terrador. I then wandered off to rejoin the rest of the aid group.

* * *

><p><span>Kaskia Isles<span>

Gneiss' POV

After I woke up from the dream involving the new Chronicler, Ignitus, I told Torché about what I'd seen. She agreed that this was excellent news, and that she would inform the other Guardians about this once she got back to the city. We checked out the condition of the island: the surface structures were mostly demolished, but the underground city was in much better shape, as many of the structures were carved out of the sturdy rock of the island itself. Deeper inside, we came upon one building I knew particularly well: my home. I hadn't been able to truly come back here for three years. I went inside; I had to know what was left of my home. Inside, I quickly went to my room. It was unchanged from the day I left… the day my peaceful life was shattered, and this whole adventure truly began.

"Gneiss… Are you alright?" asked Torché, as she entered.

"I… I think so Torché," I said, "Before all this began, this house… it was my home. It just feels strange to be back here after so long. I know one thing, though: I _will _bring this place… all of the Kaskia Isles, back to the way they once were… no, not just that, I will make this place better than ever!"

"That's the spirit, Gneiss," said Torché, "come on, the others are probably wondering where we've gone".

With that, we headed outside to rejoin the rest of our group. After gathering all the reports she needed, Torché took off once again towards Warfang. I took a deep breath, and three years truly and completely relaxed: I was home.

* * *

><p>Tempest's POV<p>

Maelstrom and I, along with the rest of the Sea dragons who were with us in Warfang swam into the depths of the ocean with a single destination in mind: the city of Tiderest. The dream I had had involving Ignitus being the new Chronicler made me hopeful for the future of the world. We eventually reached Tiderest, and saw that other than the fairly superficial damage the Dark Armies had dealt to it, it was in good shape. Overall, the structure that was in the worst shape was the palace, as that had been the focus of the Dark Armies attack. The throne room was in decent enough shape, though, meaning we could complete one particularly important task.

"Princess Tempest," asked Maelstrom, "are you ready to do this?"

"Yes I am," I replied.

"Then let us begin," said Maelstrom, "Bring forth the crown!"

Another member of the royal guard swam up bearing a finely crafted chest, and then opened the lid. Inside, was a beautiful tiara, the same one my mother Tsunami had once worn. I removed the helmet portion of my armor, preparing myself for what was to come.

"Princess Tempest, please step forwards," said Maelstrom.

I did just that.

"We come together today to officially coronate Tempest as the Queen of the Sea Dragons," asked Maelstrom, "Do you Tempest, accept the responsibilities and burdens that come with this role?"

"I fully accept the responsibilities and burdens that come with this role," I replied.

"Then it is my honor to crown you Queen Tempest of the Sea Dragons," said Maelstrom proudly, "may your reign be long and peaceful".

He then gently placed the tiara upon my head.  
>"Long live Tempest!" said Maelstrom, "long live the queen!"<p>

"Long live Tempest!" chorused the rest of the Sea Dragons, "long live the queen!"

The entire crowd gathered then bowed to me, thus completing the ceremony.

"Thank you… all of you," I said, "I shall endeavor to live up to the reputation of my ancestors, and hope that I may lead our people into a new age of peace".

That got a massive cheer of the entire assembled group. We then got down to business repairing our home.

* * *

><p>Spyro's POV<p>

After Cynder and I awoke from the dream in which I got the chance to see Ignitus once again, we went out into the main chamber of Malefor's new cave. It was surprisingly comfortable in here… it seems that this island had natural hot springs. We soon found Malefor wait for us.

"Good morning, Spyro. Good morning, Cynder," said Malefor, "did you sleep well?"

"Well enough," said Cynder, "considering that the Chronicler contacted us".

"Oh, no," said Malefor, "what new hazard is the world facing now?"

"None, as far as we can tell," I said, "He just wanted to personally thank us for fighting so hard to save the world. He also wanted us to know that he's still alive".

"What do you mean?" asked Malefor.

"The role of the Chronicler has been passed on to a new dragon," I said, "The new Chronicler… is Ignitus!"

"That's excellent news, Spyro," said Malefor, "from what you have told me of him, Ignitus will make an excellent Chronicler. Anyway, thank you for coming to visit me, I truly appreciate that you don't hold the past against me. You are always welcome to come back to see me again, as are your friends… I am eternally grateful to all of you for releasing me from the Dark Master's hold".

"You are welcome, Malefor," I said, "I shall inform Gneiss, Tempest, and Jolt of your offer. And thank you for your hospitality".

Cynder and I then stepped outside once again, and took flight back to Warfang. It dawned on me that this was it: our journey was at its end… at least for now. It was time to rest… time to recuperate… time to enjoy the current peace, and hope for it to last as long as possible.

The future was spread out ahead of us, just like the horizon.

We knew that we had to continue to fly towards that horizon, and see where it would take us.

**The End**

* * *

><p>AN: And our story is complete! Thank you to all my readers, and additional thanks to those who took the time to review. I hope you enjoyed this tale! while this trilogy is at its end, this isn't the last thime you'll see Gniess and his friends... I already have another story in the works, I'll likely start posting it in a few days. I hope you'll join me for my Legend of Spyro/Metroid Crossover: 'The Legend of Samus: Ridley's Redemption'!

See you then!


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